


If We Could Only Have This Life For One More Day (If We Could Only Turn Back Time)

by harrytomlinsonwhoops



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Coming Out, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, Kid Fic, M/M, Parents Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-17
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2017-11-21 08:52:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 55,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/595834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harrytomlinsonwhoops/pseuds/harrytomlinsonwhoops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To be honest, weird things had happened to the band. Like that time that they found Niall asleep in a women’s bathroom at Nando’s, and that time that Louis woke up in an airport after falling asleep in Zayn's bathtub. But this was by <i>far<i> the weirdest thing <i>any</i> of them had encountered. (It’s like- you’d be pretty freaked out too if a nine year old girl told you that you were her <i>dad</i> and she was from the <i>future</i>.)</i></i></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It's like this:  
  
There's a nine year old girl standing at the door of his and Harry's apartment, which- isn't that odd, really. Even with all the added security, fans still manage to sneak up to see the boys, sometimes.  
  
Except this girl has light brown hair, almost identical to Louis' colour, though it's slightly curly, and when flits into the apartment, ducking under Zayn's arms, and skipping past Liam, she says her name is Lily Anne Tomlinson. And when she's pushing Niall over to make room for herself on their couch, she tells them she's from the future and she traveled back in time- or, maybe she's saying she's traveled all this way, and needs to borrow a dime, Louis isn't exactly sure, as her mouth is full of jelly beans that she pinched out of Niall's lap.  
  
But then-  
  
"I'm your daughter," she concludes, smiling winningly at Louis. "Only I can't tell you my other last name, because you're not allowed to know who my other parent is, but it comes before 'Tomlinson,'" she explains.  
  
"As if," Louis snorts, wondering how she managed to get past security (and themselves- though really, they're all suckers for children, so it's not that hard, lately). "When I get married, my name'd definitely come first, not the other way around."  
  
Lily grins at him, and her lips are almost as pretty as Harry's and that's a _horrible_ thought that Louis pushes out of his mind- it's quite easy, as he's been doing that a lot lately, when it comes to Harry- and then she just says, "Uncle Zayn says that you're very whipped Daddy, and that's why my other parent basically gets everything they want."  
  
Harry laughs, and high fives the little girl, "That's true," he says, elbowing Louis in the stomach. "You've always been pretty easy to boss around." Louis glares at him, and then at the other three boys who are all laughing along.  
  
"Okay, so _that_ might be true," Louis admits, frowning. "But you are _not_ my _daughte_ r from the fucking _future_!" he says.  
  
"Louis, don't swear in front of her!" Harry reprimands, reaching to cover her ears, as though it's an instinct.  
  
"It's okay, I'm used to it," she says, batting Harry's hands away even as she steals more of Niall's lollies; Niall doesn't protest in the slightest, which is, perhaps, the oddest part of this entire situation.  
  
"Your future parents swear around you?" Liam questions, his eyebrow's furrowed as he glares at Louis.  
  
"Only Daddy," she shrugs, with a pointed look at Louis. "My other parent usually gets angry at him when he does it though, so he's getting slightly better," she adds, with a shrug and a smile at Harry. "When they're around, anyway."  
  
"Why would you swear around your daughter, Lou?" Niall asks, patting the girl on the head as he steals back the pink jelly beans. Louis' eye's bug and his mouth falls open.  
  
"Yeah, _you_ can talk," Lily says, interrupting Louis, with a roll of her eyes.  
  
"Niall swears around you _too_?" Liam questions, looking absolutely scandalized.  
  
"Yeah," Lily says, laughing. "And so does Stan, and Zayn, though you're getting a lot better too," she concedes, smiling at Zayn. "You're really the only adult who doesn't," she adds, turning to smile up at Liam.  
  
"Well- at least she's not my daughter," Niall and Zayn protest simultaneously, both with pointed looks in Louis' direction.  
  
"She's not my daughter!" he sputters, wondering if everyone around him has gone crazy- well, _crazier._  
  
"I dunno," Harry muses. "You _did_ say you always wanted to name your daughter Lily."  
  
"Because she was Harry Potter's mum," Lily says, smiling toothily up at Harry. "As well as your favourite flower."  
  
"Well _yeah_ , but that's- I- okay, let's _pretend_ that this could be _true_ ," Louis says. "Who's your um- mother?"  
  
"I can't tell you that." Lily says, with a shrug of her small shoulders.  
  
"Why?" Zayn interjects.  
  
"Because it might mess stuff in the future up," she explains.   
  
"Wont you just _being_ here mess things up?" Liam questions, a thoughtful look on his face.  
  
"I don't think so. I was looking through a bunch of family stuff, a few weeks ago, as we're cleaning out the attic, and I found a photo of me with all of you guys- which is normal, of course. I have tones of photos with you all. Except you were all heaps younger in this particular one, and I knew I must have traveled back in time. Me being here is apparently crucial to my existence," she tells them.  
  
"Crucial how?" Louis questions.  
  
"We'll get back to that later, when you don't look like you're about to throw up," Lily deflects, patting his knee as he sits down next to her.  
  
"Ugh- you can't be my _daughter_ ," Louis says again, running a hand through his hair. But the thing is, that she could be. Appearance wise, at least. She looks enough like him to be his sister or cousin or- _child_.   
  
"But I am," she says, shrugging. She pulls a necklace out of her shirt, offering it to him. He opens it up, to find a picture of himself holding a baby, with a look of pure _amazement_ on his face, and another picture of himself and Harry kissing Lily on the cheeks, and she looks about three years old, and-  
  
"Lou," Harry murmurs. "That’s- that’s _us_."  
  
"It could have been photo shopped," Louis says, shrugging. Hey, it's happened before. Well- not  _exactly_ like this, but last time Stan went on Tumblr, he found plenty of photo shopped photos of Louis with the other boys in very compromising positions, and didn't speak to him for a  _week_.  
  
"Lou," Harry says again, squeezing him arm tightly as his eyes widen. "That necklace- it's been in my family for ages. The first born daughter always gets it. Gemma got it when she turned 21, only she's _never_ liked it, and doesn't even want kids, really, so she gave it to me, saying-"  
  
He breaks off, and after a moment, Zayn nudges him. "Saying what, H?"  
  
"To give it to my daughter," Harry whispers, staring at Lily, eyes wide with shock.  
  
"Auntie Gemma didn't end up having any kids, so she gave it to you," Lily says, shrugging slowly. "And you um- well you gave it to Daddy, when I was born, I suppose."  
  
Louis nods slowly. "Okay," he says clearly, and then promptly faints.

 

*

  
  
He's woken up with water being splashed in his face, and there's a small girly voice saying _is he always this much of a drama queen?_ and the answering _yes_ coming from all the other boys is enough for him to open his eyes and say, "So that wasn't a dream then, huh?"  
  
"'Fraid not Lou," Harry says, grinning at him. "But hey, you can go back to sleep and pretend it was, while we figure out what to do with your daughter, if you like." Louis frowns and sits up, staring at Lily.  
  
"I- I think I need more- more _proof_ ," Louis says slowly. "That you really are my daughter and not just a crazed fan or something."  
  
Lily rolls her eyes, "What, the photos and necklace weren't proof enough?"  
  
"No," Louis says simply.  
  
"Fine," Lily agrees, clearly having expected this. "Well, for one, I'm the spitting image of you."  
  
"'S true Lou," Liam murmurs. "She's got your hair, and your eyes, and-"  
  
"So?" Louis interrupts. "That’s- not _enough_ to make me believe she's my _daughter_! Plus, my hair is _straight_ and that's not my _smile_ or my-"  
  
"Louis, she's only _half_ of you," Zayn interrupts, rolling his eyes. "She's probably got half her mum's genes too, right?" he says, staring at Lily, who nods.  
  
"Yeah. I got my smile and curls from my other parent," she says, smiling, and Louis nods, because he can't disagree with that smile (he's never been able to say no to beautiful smiles. It's half the reason Harry wins every argument they have).  
  
"Okay, but- maybe you're just like- a lost long cousin?" he says, grasping onto straws. Lily rolls her eyes again and huffs in annoyance.  
  
"God, you're so annoying," she says with a loud sigh. "Would it help if I told you everything I know about you? And trust me, I know a lot about you," she says. This time, Harry snorts, and Lily's head whips to stare at him so fast her brown hair hits Louis in the face.  
  
"Sorry, but- all our fans basically know more about us then even we do, so that one isn't really proof," he says, shrugging.   
  
"Yeah, but only _I_ know that Daddy hates milk, unless it's flavored, he cried the night you guys didn't win X Factor, but only because he was so scared of losing you all, he swears on his _life_ he can always tell Aunt Phoebe and Auntie Daisy apart, but he can't, really, and Aunt Lottie always has to help him. He cries in The Notebook, but Titanic puts him to sleep, he can't cook, but he _tries_ to make me a cake every birthday anyway, even though we always end up with our kitchen on fire, he loves bananas, but refuses to let me eat them, for reasons I don't want to think about, thank you very much, " she says, shuddering, much to Niall's amusement (and Liam's shock).

Harry’s mouth opens like he’s about to say something, but Lily beats him to it.

"I know that you're the best husband, and my- my other parent loves you so much that it seems to actually _hurt_ you both to be away from each other," she continues, turning to look directly into Louis' eyes. "I know that you fight with Uncle Zayn about his smoking all the time, but when you get super stressed, you sneak a cigarette too- even though me and Uncle Niall keep hiding them from you, and flushing them down the toilet," Niall leans over to affectionately rub her hair, earning a smile. "I know that your favourite song when you were sixteen was _The Best Of Both Worlds_ by Miley Cyrus and you had a huge crush on Selena Gomez when you were- well, _now_ I guess," she says, her eyebrows furrowing. "I know that you fight with Uncle Liam the most out of everybody, but that's only because he's _sensible_ and you're so- _not_. And I know that you're the best dad a girl could want, even though you drive me mad and didn't let me go to Pink's concert last year- which, still mad about, by the way- but I love you anyway because you sing me to sleep and you're my partner in crime and _please_ daddy, _please_ just _believe_ me," she says, a tear falling down her cheek.  
  
"Hey, hey- don't cry," Louis says, reaching to wipe the tear away. "I believe you," he says suddenly, shocking even himself. "I- God, you're my _daughter_ ," he tells her. Her face lights up in a smile, and she nods.  
  
"Hi Daddy," she trills, and her voice is _musical_ and _familiar_ and she's basically perfect.  
  
"I- can you call me Louis, for awhile? It's just- hard. To get used to being called _that_ ," he says, awkwardly. Lily bites her lip, but sighs and nods.  
  
"Sure _Louis_ ," she agrees, smiling at him. Louis smiles tentatively back, running a hand through his hair.  
  
"So, what now?" Zayn questions, scratching his head.  
  
"Now we get some dinner, because it's almost six and I'm hungry, and I'm sure the kids are too," Harry says, looking pointedly at Niall and Lily, who both grin.  
  
"Nandos?" they ask, at the same time.   
  
"That’s- are you sure you aren't Niall's kid?" Harry questions, grinning.  
  
"Don't be stupid," Lilly says, her voice a perfect imitation of Louis'. "If I was _his_ kid, do you really think I'd be as perfect as I am now?"  
  
"Yep, _definitely_ Lou's kid," Zayn, Niall, Liam and Harry say in union, ignoring Louis' weak protests.  
  
"Come on squirt, let's go get some food," Harry says, lifting Lily off Louis and swinging her around onto his back.   
  
"Don't call me squirt!" Lily protests, as Harry lets out a bark of laughter and leads them all out of the door.  
  
"Wait, what are we gonna tell people?" Louis questions.  
  
"Um. That she's your long lost cousin?" Zayn offers, shrugging.  
  
"Well, the fans will believe that, sure, but what about my _family_?" Louis questions.  
  
"Just tell Jay that you can't talk about it," Harry says, shrugging.  
  
"I'll be gone in two months anyway," Lily says, biting her lip.   
  
"I- what, why?" Louis questions, suddenly terrified at the idea of her leaving.  
  
"I came here through a time-portal," Lily started off, after Harry had put her down. "In the future, scientists have discovered several 'time-portals' scattered across the world. It acts as- like a door into the past- literally. They found one in London a week ago, and I sweet talked Liam into helping me get into it, after I found the picture," she said, shrugging. Louis shot a glare at his band mate.  
  
"You helped my nine year old daughter travel back in time? Are you _insane_?" he questioned, angrily, ignoring Lily’s smug smile.

Liam looks horrified. "Hey, don't give me that, I haven't _done_ it yet!" he protests.  
  
"I don't care, you-"  
  
"Calm down Lou," Harry says, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Go on," he says gently to Lily.  
  
"Anyway, I only have roughly two months before I get pulled back into my own time," Lily repeats. “I’m just here to make sure I’m still born.”  
  
"Well- tell me what I have to do then, to make sure you're still born," Louis begs.   
  
"I can't really say anything," Lilly tells him.  
  
"But, I- am I supposed to break up with El, is that it? Or is she your mum?"  
  
"Dad!" she yells. "I can't say anything!"  
  
"Then _how_ is you being here supposed to help?" Louis questions.  
  
"I'm only here to _guide_ you," Lily says, running a hand through her hair. "You have to figure everything out yourself. I'm just here to- to point you in the right direction.”

“Right,” Louis says, frowning. “I- let’s just go get some food, yeah?” Lily nods her head, and slips her hand into Louis’, who winces and instantly wants to jerk away, but-

“Thank you daddy,” Lily murmurs. “For believing me.”

Louis nods, and with Harry’s hand holding onto his other one, feels that he can actually do this.

*

“Wow, you really _were_ famous,” Lily murmurs, upon seeing the screaming girls outside their apartment building. Harry furrows his eyebrows as he leans down to pick Lily up, to make it easier to get through the crowds.

“Are we not famous in the future?” he questions, and Louis frowns because _how can Harry be so calm about this_?

“No- you _are_ , and we still get people recognizing you all the time, but it’s just- different,” Lily says, biting her lip.

“Are we still a band?” Niall asks, his voice soft and his eyes worried.

“I can’t tell you anything,” Lily murmurs. “It’d mess up the future, remember?” Niall nods, and Lily frowns and bites her lips. “But you haven’t actually broken up the band. I mean- its okay. I promise,” she adds, smiling toothily up at Niall.

“Thanks Lily,” Niall says, breathing out a sigh of relief.

“So um- tell us about yourself,” Liam says awkwardly, as they get into Liam's car, as it's the only one with enough seats for all of them, and after waving at their fans, Zayn starts Liam's car up and drives off.

“Well, my full name is Lily Anne S- _something_ Tomlinson, and I’m nine years old,” Lily starts off.

“Anne?” Harry questions, staring right at Louis, who gulps.

“Yeah, after g- your mum,” Lily says, blushing.

“You gave your daughter my mum’s middle name?” Harry asked Louis, who shrugs.

“I guess so,” he says, blushing. “Is that um. Alright?”

“Yeah, yeah of _course_ Lou,” Harry says, beaming at him.

“I like reading and I’m very smart for my age,” Lily interrupts. “I am only meant to be in grade four, but I’m in grade five,” she continues, smiling proudly. “I play football, and I sing, and-”

“You sing?” Louis interrupts. “Are you like- good?”

“Well, my other parent certainly thinks so. They say I have your voice, and that’s partially the reason they fell in love with you, so they’re glad that I didn’t get their voice,” Lily explains.

“Your other parent can’t sing?” Louis asks. “Is it Eleanor then? Because she’s crap at singing.”

“No it’s- I mean, _dad_! I can’t _tell_ you that!” Lily answers, flustered.

“You just said _no_ though,” Zayn says, from the driver’s seat. “So, it’s _not_ El then?”

“Ugh, _fine_ , it’s _not_ Eleanor,” Lily says, crinkling her nose.

“What, don’t you like Eleanor?” Niall asks from behind Louis.

“You don’t like Eleanor?” Louis interrupts, staring between them. “How’d you pick up on that Niall?”

“The nose thing she did, it’s the exact same as when H-”

“No, I don’t really like Eleanor,” Lily interrupts loudly. “We don’t see her much anyway, just at events sometimes, but- yeah. I just _don’t_ for- for _reasons_.”

“Okay then,” Harry says easily. “So, Louis, looks like you ought to break up with her then,” he comments. Louis shoots him a glare, before frowning.

“Why? I mean- Lily just said that El wasn’t her _mum_. That doesn’t mean I have to _dump_ her,” he says, before staring at Lily. “Right? I don’t dump her now?”

“I can’t tell you anything!” Lily explodes. “It’d-”

“- ruin the future, we know,” Harry finishes for the little girl. “But like- could you just give us a vague timeline on how long Lou has to date Eleanor-" and Harry shudders slightly as he says her name- "before he can break up with her?” Lily laughs, and her laugh is _perfect_ and Louis’ eyes water and he ignores Harry’s obvious dislike of his girlfriend, because this is his _daughter_ and she is his _child_ and his _flesh_ and _blood_ and that’s just- un-fucking- _real_.

“Let me just say that come 2013 you are no longer with her,” Lily says, before frowning. “Now that’s all! No more questions, okay?” The boys all mumble agreements, and Louis looks down at his hand, still intertwined with Lily’s, who’s practically sitting in Harry’s lap, she's so close to him.

“Just- one more,” Louis asks, and Lily must see the desperation in his eyes, because she bites her lip, but nods in agreement.

“Okay then, _one_ more Daddy.”

“Are we- are we all still friends?” Louis asks, frowning. “Like- you said that the band never exactly broke up, right? But what happened to our _friendships_?” Lily’s smile is practically blinding as Harry runs his fingers through her long hair.

“You’re all still best friends,” Lily answers, pausing while the boys all let out a collective sigh of relief. “You see each other practically every weekend, and you talk all the time. And- you and Harry are _especially_ close, like always,” she adds.

“Then why don’t you call him ‘Uncle Harry,’ like the rest of us?” Liam questions from the passenger seat, his eyebrow furrowing. “And what about other people? Like Stan, and Josh and Andy and- shit- what about _Danielle_?” he asks, his facial expression growing more worried by the second.

“Because um- Harry is my- we’re closer, than me and you guys. I see him every day and he’s um- _more_ than my Uncle?” Lily explains, and Louis frowns, because the little girl is suddenly bright red. “And we still see Uncle Stan when we go on visits to Doncaster, and you’re still close with him,” she continues, smiling at Louis. “Josh was still your drummer for ages after I was born- the whole band was still there, really, and Uncle Liam, you’re still friends with Andy, though I only see him when he comes to London to visit you, and we’re not close,” she says, frowning.

“Why not?” Harry asks, curiously.

“He- has some problems, with my other parent,” Lily responds, her frown deepening. “But let’s not get into that.” Harry nods, and Liam frowns.

“But what about Danielle?” he repeats.

“She’s happy,” Lily says simply, and Liam visibly relaxes.

“Is she still with me?” he whispers.

“I- she- she’s _happy_ ,” Lily repeats. “Sorry Uncle Li, but that’s all I can tell you.”

Liam nods, frowning, but smiling at the same time, Danielle's happiness clearly more important than their relationship, to him. They fall silent again, and minutes later the car pulls into a Nando’s car park and they’re all tumbling out, Harry never once letting go of Lily. There are a few girls there, who look _amazed_ when they walk in, and Niall murmurs something about _damn, I’m hungry_ and Liam leads them all up to order.

“What do you want Lils?” Harry questions, smiling at the little girl who’s still still attached to his hand, and Louis thinks that _he_ should be the one holding her hand considering she’s _his_ daughter, but Harry looks so _right_ with her, and she looks so _happy_ on his arms, that Louis doesn’t have the heart to separate them.

“Um. The chicken burger, only with no lettuce or tomato,” she says, studying the menu board. “And a coke, please,” Harry nods, and tells the cashier lady, who blushes and fumbles but eventually manages to take all of their orders,  without screaming or fainting or something. After Niall pays, the boys find a table large enough to seat all of them and they all shuffle into the booths, Lily sandwiched between Louis and Harry.

“Um, daddy?” Lily whispers, pulling on his shirt. “I need to go to the bathroom,” she tells him, quietly.

“I’ll take her,” Harry offers, slipping his hand into her tiny one, and sliding out of the booth, pulling her after him. “Come on Lily, the toilets right this way.”

“Thank you,” she trills, beaming up at him, as they walk away, telling him about how her soccer team won last week, and how she scored two of the three goals. Louis just smiles, and shuffles closer to Liam, who frowns at him.

“That’s your _daughter_ ,” he says, quietly. “You have a _kid_ Lou.”

“Don't remind me,” Louis groans, running a hand through his hair.

“Do you have any idea who her mum is?” Zayn questions, frowning.

“Not one,” Louis whines. “I mean- it’s not like I thought El was exactly forever, you know? She’s a great girl, and I love her, but- I can’t imagine being with _anyone_ for that long right now- I’m only _twenty_.”

“Really?” Liam questions, his mouth turned down in a frown.

“Yeah,” Louis says with a shrug. “Is that- wrong?”

“No, not at all,” Liam says, blushing. “It’s just that- I see myself with Dani, like. Forever, I think. I can definitely see us getting married, and having kids, and just- she’s my soul mate, I’m pretty sure.”

Louis nods, and pales a bit. “Guys, guys- I have a fucking _kid_ , in the future. With a girl that isn’t my current girlfriend, and like- holy fucking _shit_.”

“I think that, maybe, and this- is just a suggestion, but like. You should break up with Eleanor,” Niall says. “You never thought she was _the one_ before, and this just proves that she’s definitely not, so-”

“Yeah,” Louis says, slumping down dejectedly in his seat. “I’ll just dump my girlfriend of a _year_ for a girl who I only met like, thirty minutes ago, sure.”

“Louis- don’t be a dick about this, okay? Because that little girl clearly _idolizes_ you, and loves you to _death_ and if you break her heart, I swear I will kill you,” Zayn says, and it's obvious that Lily reminds him of his sisters.

“Zayn- that’s my _kid_. Of course I’m not gonna be a dick to her, I’m not a horrible person,” Louis protests.

“I know that Louis, but you _do_ have a tendency to lash out when you- when you feel like you’re boxed in, or something,” Zayn explains, and Liam and Niall nod in agreement. “Hurting her will only hurt yourself.”

“Right,” Louis murmurs, just as he hears Lily trill ‘ _we’re back and I’m hungry, so where’s my food?_ ’

“Right here sweetie,” a pretty blonde girl says, holding two trays of food, and smiling sweetly at Lily, who’s still clutching Harry’s hand.

“Yay!” Lily squeals, sitting down in the booth next to Louis. The girl grins, and places the two trays of food on the table, and then stares at Harry.

“Um. Excuse me, but could I get a picture, please?” she asks, her voice quiet. Harry nods, and she pulls a phone out of her pocket, takes the picture and then disappears, with another awed look in Harry’s direction. Lily glares at her back as Harry squeezes in next to her.

“Stupid girls, always all over you,” she mumbles around a mouthful of burger. Harry blushes, and the other boys laugh.

“Is Curly here still the favourite in the future?” Louis asks, with a teasing grin in Harry’s direction.

Lily frowns at him. “Yes, unfortunately. And I’m only _nine_ , but girls still hate me, just for knowing him. It’s _horrible_ ,” she complains, and Harry sighs.

“Sorry pet,” he says, patting her head. Lily beams as his hand runs through her hair, and across the table, as Lily launches into a story of how a fan actually asked for _Lily’s_ autograph the other day- or, like, years into the future, apparently- Liam nudges Niall and whispers, ‘ _so, do you think she’s got a bit of a crush on Harry then?_ ’

Niall’s loud laughter interrupts Lily’s story, and Liam blushes, again, before telling Lily it was _an adult joke, sorry sweetie, continue with your story._

“So that’s a no then?” Liam hisses, and Niall laughs again, quieter this time.

“Dude- Harry’s clearly like another dad to her, there’s no way her feelings go deeper than that,” Niall reassures him, mentally shaking his head at how fucking _oblivious_ his four friends are being- except, maybe Harry, because he surely can’t have missed the way Lily smiles at him- like a very  _proud,_ very loving, _daughter_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/slytherinlarry_) and [tumblr](http://slytherin-larrie.tumblr.com).


	2. Chapter 2

“Who was that?” Harry questions, when Liam returns to the table after excusing himself to take a phone call.

“Management,” Liam moans. “There’s a problem with one of the songs on the album- they need us to go in and re-record some parts.”

“All of us?” Niall asks.

“No, just Lou, Niall and Zayn. They said me and Harry could go tomorrow, if they need us, which they don't think they will,” Liam responds, as Louis, Niall and Zayn all groan in unison, while Lily claps her hands together.

“Can I come? Please, oh pretty please?” she begs, and Louis groans.

“Is my future self able to say no to you? Because I gotta tell you, I’m not having much luck with it,” he jokes, and Lily beams.

“Lou, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Liam says, frowning. “It’s just, I don’t think management will believe the ‘long lost cousin’ thing if we bring her in today, when she’s still likely to slip up, and mention the future.”

Lily frowns, but nods her head. “Uncle Liam’s right,” she agrees sadly. “I need to get used to not calling you all my ‘Uncles’ and stuff.”

“How about I take you out?” Harry asks, and Lily smiles up at him, and Harry swears that there are honest to god _hearts_ in her eyes.

“I’d love to!” she squeals, and Louis grins, mouths _thank you_ to Harry, over her head. “Uncle Liam, what about you?”

Liam grins at the little girl, but shakes his head. “Sorry sweetie, but I have plans with Dani,” he says. “I have to figure out how to explain you to her,” he adds, frowning slightly. “I’ve never lied to her before.”

Lily reaches across the table and pats his head. “It’ll be okay, I promise.”

Liam smiles at her, and then stands up. “Well, I’ll be off then lads- and lady,” he adds, with a wink in Lily’s direction. “See you all later.” A chorus of ‘byes’ and ‘see you’s’ ring out as he leaves, and then Niall and Zayn stand up too, awkwardly shuffling out of the booth.

“We should probably head off as well, right Lou?” Zayn asks, and Louis frowns.

“I guess,” he agrees, before turning to Harry. “I- look after her, yeah?”

Harry nods, and smiles reassuringly. “We’ll probably just go do some shopping. If she’s gonna be here awhile, she’ll need some clothes, right?” Louis frowns- why didn’t he think of that? He was her _dad_ after all, not Harry- and then nods.

“Thanks man, really,” he says, before turning to Lily. “Harry has my number, obviously, so if you need, just ring me, okay? And um.” Louis bites his lip, trying to get in the head-space of _dad_. “And don’t talk to strangers, and no boys and maybe you should wear sunscreen?”

Lily gives him a _look_ , and Niall hides a grin (he’s seen that look _plenty_ of times- on _Harry’s_ face). “Dad. It’s basically below _freezing_ outside, because we’re in _London_. I don’t think I need _sunscreen_ ,” she says, smiling fondly.

“Louis,” he reminds her, his voice quiet, and apologetic. “And I know, but- I’m new at this Lily, okay? Give me a break.”

Lily’s eyes soften, and she nods. “Sorry D-. Sorry _Louis_ ," she corrects herself. "I’ll be careful, I promise. And Harry will look after me, so it’s okay.”

“Yeah, okay,” Louis agrees, smiling at her. “Be safe,” he tells her, before stooping down to kiss her forehead.

“Always am,” she says, singing the words, and Harry’s heart pretty much _stops_ , because her voice is _lovely_ , and _perfect_ and it reminds him of Louis so, _so_ much.

“I- right,” Louis says, his voice choked, before he races out of Nandos, Zayn and Niall trailing behind, waving goodbye.

“Well,” Lily starts off. “That went well,” she says sarcastically, causing Harry to laugh loudly.

*

“So, what kind of clothes do you like?” Harry questions, looking down at Lily, who’s attached to his hand.

Lily bites her lip as she thinks it over. “I like purple things,” she finally decides. “And dark blue, on account of it makes my eyes pop.”

Harry laughs, and Lily frowns at him. “Sorry,” he says. “It’s just that you remind me of Lou, like, a lot.”

“Well, I _am_ his daughter,” Lily grins, and Harry nods.

“Yeah, ‘course. Now, how about we try looking in this store- it’s called _Elias & Grace_,” Harry says, staring at his phone. “I don’t know anything about it, except for that I googled ‘where to buy kids clothing in London’ and some website recommended this, so.”

“Oh, I love that store!” Lily squeals, and Harry grins. “Daddy got me this really nice dress from there a few weeks ago,” she tells him, as they hail a Taxi. “It was green and had purple hearts on it, and it was just so awesome! And one time, for my eighth birthday, Liam and Danielle got me a pretty jumper from there, and I still like to wear it, even though it’s getting too small now.”

Harry’s eyebrows knit together. “Liam _and_ Danielle? So they _are_ together in the future?” he asks, and Lily pales, eyes wide.

“Oh my god I can’t believe I told you that!” she squeals, and Harry laughs.

“Hey, it’s okay; I won’t say anything, alright? I always knew those two were forever anyway,” he shrugs, and Lily smiles thankfully.

“Thank you,” she says, her voice soft. “I felt awful, not being able to tell Liam, but- it might change things, if they knew, so.”

“Yeah, I understand,” Harry says, mouth turned down.  “I know you can’t say, and like, I get it, but- am I alright, in the future?”

Lily nods, and relief floods Harry’s face. “You’re better than alright,” she promises. “I can’t say much else, but you’re happy, and you’re in love and it all works out, okay?”

Harry grins, and reaches over to squeeze her hand. “Thank you.”

*

At the store, they get a few dresses for Lily, along with a few shirts, two pairs of pants, two jumpers, three pairs of shoes, eight pairs of socks, and some underwear (and two ‘training bras’ even though Harry doesn’t quite understand why she needs them; she’s _nine_ , for god sake). At another store, they buy her three pairs of pajamas's, and much to Lily’s delight (and Harry’s amusement) they even manage to get a _One Direction_ onesie in her size (she tries to wear it out of the store, but Harry refuses, saying it’ll cause to much attention, and _really_ , those things aren’t flattering, on _anybody_ (but he does take a few photos of Lily wearing it in the change room, and sends them to Louis, and he tells her how adorable she is)).

“But this cost _so much_ and I won’t even be using it after two months,” Lily says, when they’re loading all the bags in another taxi.

“Lil- money is hardly even a problem for me right now, and- besides, I charged it all to Lou’s account anyway,” he says, throwing a cheeky grin at her. “His kid, his money, right?”

Lily laughs, and nods. “Right,” she agrees.

"Plus, we can keep all this stuff, and you can wear it, in like- the future, and stuff," Harry says quietly, shrugging as he shuts the boot and then opens her door for her, and helps her in.

“Good idea," Lily muses, sliding into the car.

“I'm just full of those,” Harry responds, before shutting the door and walking around and climbing in his own seat. “I was thinking we just go home, and get you set up in the guest room and then maybe watch a movie?” he suggests, as the taxi driver pulls off the curb. Harry takes a big gulp of his coke, as Lily nods.

“Yeah, sounds fun. And, Harry- your phone is ringing,” she adds, pointing to the vibrating phone sitting between them. Harry tries to swallow his coke, and starts coughing as it goes down wrong, his eyes watering. Lily rolls her own eyes and picks up the phone without looking at the caller i.d. and answers it. “Harry Styles’ phone, how can I help you?” she answers as Harry tries to compose himself.

“Um, hello?” a girl’s voice answers, and Lily pulls the phone away to see who it is. “Eleanor,” she mutters to Harry, a frown on her face.

“Yes?” she responds.

“Hi, erm, I’m Eleanor Calder? It’s just- Louis was supposed to meet me, and he isn’t answering his phone. I thought Harry might know where he is, maybe?”

“He’s kind of choking at the moment,” Lily informs her.

“Oh dear. Is he okay?" Eleanor responds, and Lily sighs.

"He'll be fine. Just can't exactly talk, is all."

"Well- it's just, I already tried Liam, but he's with Dani, and they never have their phones on when they're together, and Zayn isn't answering either, so- when Harry's um, not choking, and all, could you ask him to call me back, maybe?” Eleanor asks, confusion evident in her tone.

“She wants to know where Daddy is,” Lily finally informs Harry, covering the phone with her hand. “What shall I say?”

Harry coughs a bit more. “That he had to go in to-" cough- "record, and he’ll call her-" cough "-later,” Harry replies, a frown almost identical to Lily’s on his face as he wipes his wet eyes.

Lily relays the message to Eleanor, her voice stiff. “Thank you?” Eleanor responds. “Um. Who’s this, by the way?”

“Lily,” she replies bluntly.

“O-kay then,” Eleanor answers. “Well, thank you Lily, I guess. Tell Harry hello for me please.”

“Sure,” Lily says, rolling her eyes. “Is that all?”

“Um, yes?”

“Bye,” Lily tells her, before promptly hanging up.

“Wow, you _really_ don’t like her, do you?” Harry asks, grinning, finally having got control of himself. Lily giggles, and shakes her head.

“Not one little bit,” she replies. “Long story short, she basically tried to keep my parents apart, when Dad first tried to end things with her. She was all needy and like ‘you can’t leave me for someone else, think of what it’d look like to your fans’ and stuff,” Lily explains. “Dad obviously fell for it, because he _hated_ hurting her, but. Yeah.”

“Does Lou still see her much? Or do you just hate her based on what he’s said?” Harry asks.

Lily blushes. “I’ve only met her a few times, and big events and stuff, because she’s a model now, got a few job offers for some clothing stores after her and Dad broke up.”

“Bitch,” Harry mutters, before glancing at Lily, his cheeks a deep red. “Whoops, sorry.”

“No, it’s fine, she’s a bitch,” Lily agrees, giggling.

“Lily Anne Tomlinson!” Harry scolds. “No swearing!”

“Yes Dad,” she mutters sarcastically, before looking at Harry with frightened eyes.

“Hey, just because I’m not your dad doesn’t mean I can’t tell you off for swearing,” Harry jokes, and Lily breathes a sigh of relief.

“When I was little, it almost felt like I had five Dad’s, instead of just one,” Lily grins. “Sometimes it sucked, because I’d get lectures from all of you when I did something wrong- which was rarely, if we’re being honest, because everything naughty I did was mainly because of Dad anyway- so it was like I had disappointed all five of you.”

“Hey, you’ll _never_ disappoint me,” Harry says softly, smiling at her. Lily grins, and continues.

“Of course, it was awesome at other times, because family reunions are _massive_ , because we have everyone’s family, so we end up with Liam’s sisters, and their husbands and kids, and Dad’s sisters and Aunt Lottie’s fiancé, and Auntie Fizzy’s boyfriend, and then Gemma, of course, and then we have all of _Zayn’s_ sisters, and then Niall’s brother and his wife and son, and then everybody’s _parents_ and sometimes even _grandparents_ and cousins and Aunts and Uncles and, gosh, there’s just so many _people_ in our family,” Lily says, and Harry grins.

“I’m glad to know that we’re all still close,” he tells her. “It’s- something that’s been worrying me for a while, what with everyone getting girlfriends and stuff. I feel like we’re all drifting, sometimes, and just- it’s nice to know everything turns out okay.”

“It turns out better than okay,” Lily tells him. “Everything works out perfectly, just the way it’s supposed to.”

“Thank you,” Harry responds, and they fall into a comfortable silence, both thinking.

See, the thing is, Harry always sort of thought that him and Louis would end up together. If he’s honest, he’s known it since the first moment they met, really. But then Louis had Hannah and Harry was just a sixteen year old kid with a crush, so- he tried to forget. Tried to act as though he wasn’t falling more in love with Louis as every week went by (failed, miserably, and the evidence is forever there in the video diaries, for all to see- except Louis himself, apparently). But then Hannah and Louis broke up, and Harry remembers Louis telling him, remembers Louis trying to act as though he was fine, as though he believed it when he told Harry, ‘ _it was for the best, right, because with the tour, and the album and you boys, it’s not fair on her, really, that I’m away all the time,_ ’ as though he wasn’t completely breaking down inside.

After a while though, things got better, and Harry and Louis became so close that they were always known as _HarryandLouis,_ always one following the other, no matter what. And then Eleanor came into the picture, and Harry’s dreams that Louis had finally cottoned on to the fact that they were in love, basically, were crushed, because Louis couldn’t stop talking about her, and neither could the magazine’s and blogs, and everywhere he looked was _Eleanor this_ , and _Eleanor that_ , and _wasn’t it so lovely that Louis has found a beautiful, lovely girlfriend who loves him for more than his fame?_

And he tried, at first, to like Eleanor. Tried to stop seeing her as ‘the competition,’ tried to see whatever it was that Louis saw in her. But Harry was still desperately in love with Louis, and everyone seemed to see it, except for Louis himself. It drove him nuts, and at first, he thought Louis knew, because he was _constantly_ shoving Eleanor in his face (honestly, Harry would come home from Niall’s flat, or whatever, and Eleanor would be there, _always_ , in their apartment, all pretty smiles, and perfect hair, and- Harry hated her, he really did), but then he realised that Louis was just completely fucking _oblivious_ , and really had no idea that Harry loved him.

(That’s when the tattoo’s started, and never really stopped. He literally wore his heart on his fucking sleeve, but- it didn’t work. Eleanor was still around and Louis was still very much not interested in Harry, no matter what Harry did.)

But he had hoped, that in the future, once the band was sort of less famous, and the ramifications for coming out would be much less harsh, they maybe Louis would open his eyes, and they could be together, but- if Louis had a _kid_ , then-

Well, there goes that dream.

*

“Yeah, we’re just watching _Tangled_ , which, by the way, I’m still curious as to why we own that, considering neither of us are little girls,” Harry laughs.

“Excuse you Styles, but that movie is fantastic, no matter what age you are!” Louis argues, and Harry hears Niall laughing in the background.

“Yeah, right,” Harry replies. “Well, Lily seems to be enjoying it, so- that’s the point, anyway.”

“Yeah,” Louis agrees. “Hey- Eleanor texted, saying she rang you and some girl answered, and was kinda rude to her?”

Harry tries not to grin, and fails. “Yeah, well, Lily answered, cause I was um- dying, basically, after I tried to drink some soft drink, and she wasn’t too happy with Eleanor. I guess it’d gotta be weird for her,” he adds, and he can practically hear Louis frown over the phone.

“Why?”

“You know, having her _Dad_ date a girl that isn’t her mum? Come on Lou, surely you’ve thought about this,” Harry sighs, and Louis groans.

“I didn’t, actually. I was a bit more caught up on the fact that I have a _daughter_ , and- oh yeah, time travel is _real_ ,” Louis snaps.

“Hey, don’t get mad at me,” Harry argues. “It’s not my fault, I’m just saying, of course Lily doesn’t like Eleanor. She probably sees her as a threat, I guess.”

“You’re right,” Louis agrees. “And I don’t want to upset her, but- I’ve got a date with El tonight. I mean, I blew her off once already today, so. Can’t really do it again without upsetting her.”

“Right,” Harry mumbles. “I can look after Lily, I guess. I mean, she seems to be having fun with me anyway.”

“Well, actually, I was thinking Eleanor could come over? Meet Lily, and what not. Neither of us really feel like going out anyway,” Louis explains. Harry frowns at him through the phone.

“Do you think that’s a good idea? I mean, you’ll have to explain who Lily is, and-”

“I’ve got that covered,” Louis tells him proudly. “I’ll just say that she’s my half-sister. I could say my dad slept with a girl, and she got pregnant and never told him, and that Lily’s mum had an emergency, and needed someone to look after her for a while, and when I found out, I offered?”

“That’s- actually pretty smart Lou,” Harry tells him, and he hears Louis laughing.

“Yeah, well, that was my one great idea for the year- oh hey, that rhymed.”

“You’re a poet and you didn’t know it,” Harry teases, and Louis groans.

“Okay, enough of the bad jokes. Can I speak to Lily please?”

“Sure, let me get her,” Harry says, before calling out her name. She comes rushing into the kitchen almost immediately, and grins eagerly up at Harry.

“Is that Daddy?” she questions, and beams when Harry nods. “Can I talk to him?” Harry hands the phone to her, smiling when she smiles even bigger. “Hi Daddy!” she trills. “Yes, I’m good. We’re watching _Tangled_. Harry made me an egg on toast, and a tea, with lots of sugar. We went shopping and I got a purple _One Direction_ onesie and it’s so cute, and I got three dresses and two are purple and one is blue and I got a bunch of shirts and one is pink, which is a gross colour, but it’s alright, anyway, Harry told me to get it and I couldn’t say no, and I also got some jumpers and shoes and pants and Harry even bought me a bra!”

Harry watches her ramble to Louis, and grins when he hears Louis say _a bra? Lily, you’re_ nine _, why in the world would you need a bra?_ He makes himself a cup of tea, and sits down at the table next to Lily, just watching her and Louis chat. He figures out when Louis tells her about Eleanor, because her face gets all pinched, and- oh.

Niall was right. That _is_ the same look Harry’s face makes when Eleanor is brought up (he’s watched enough interviews to know that by now, honestly).

“But _Daddy_ , why does she have to come _here_? Can’t you just tell her you’re busy?” Lily pleads, her big, blue eyes sad, and Harry frowns. “But what about me? How will you explain that? Oh. Well, you have that all sorted then. No, it’s not that I don’t _like_ her Daddy, I’m sure she’s nice, but she’s not my _mum_ and it’ll be weird seeing you kiss and stuff. Ugh, _fine_ , I’ll give her a chance. I’m not promising to be _nice_ though. Okay. See you soon Daddy. Love you, bye.” Lily hangs up the phone, and stares at Harry. “You know, if my Dad was really my _Dad_ , like- future Louis, he’d be helping me plot to get rid of Eleanor tonight.”

Harry grins. “Well, I may not be your dad, but I’m up for anything that helps get rid of Eleanor.”

Lily beams at him.

*

Harry and Lily are in the middle of making pasta sauce when the door opens. “Harry, Lily, I’m home!” Louis calls out, and Lily jumps off of the counter and runs to him, Harry right behind her.

“Louis,” she squeals, jumping into his open arms. Louis picks her up, and whirls her around, and Harry smiles widely when her happy giggle echoes through their apartment.

“Hey love,” Louis says, putting her back down. “Lily, this is my girlfriend, Eleanor,” he says, gesturing to her. Eleanor smiles down at Lily, who is very pointedly not looking at her, which causes Louis to frown. “And Eleanor, this is my half-sister, Lily Anne.” Harry, sensing trouble, leans down to Lily's height and whispers in her ear _be nice Lily_.

“Hello,” Lily says, finally turning to look at Eleanor, and forcing a smile. Eleanor reaches out a hand, and Lily quickly shakes it.

“Hello Lily, it’s nice to meet you,” Eleanor replies, and Lily nods at her.

“We made pasta, Louis, and Harry even let me help!” she tells him, grinning toothily.

“I hope you didn’t let her use the stove or anything H, she’s only a _kid_ ,” Louis says, and Harry smiles as they all walk into the kitchen.

“Oh, no, I just let her use the biggest knife we own to cut everything up. But don’t worry Lou, I would never let her use the _stove_! What kind of irresponsible person do you think I am?” he teases, winking at Lily, who giggles.

“Don’t worry Louis, he barley let me do _anything_ ,” she moans. “I really only got to taste test everything, and stir the spaghetti. We used the bowties, cause they’re my favourites.”

“Mine too,” Harry pipes up, before heading to the stove to finish up the pasta sauce.

“And that’s why you’re my favourite,” Lily tells him, smiling when Louis mock gasps.

“How very dare you Lily! I am your f- _brother_ , and Harry here is just a stupid boy with curly hair!” he jokes, and Harry rolls up a dish cloth and wacks Louis’ back with it.

“High five!” Lily shrieks, and smacks her small hand into Harry’s much larger one. “Do you like my clothes?” she asks then, turning to Louis. “Harry picked them out ‘specially for you.”

“Especially, Lils,” Harry corrects, and Lily rolls her eyes.

“Whatever,” she murmurs.

“The outfit is _adorable_ Lily,” Louis compliments.  “I know that pink is an icky colour, but it looks beautiful on you.”

“I know,” Lily says, and Harry laughs.

“You know Lou, even though you didn’t raise Lily or anything, I could swear she was like- your daughter,” Harry says, a huge grin on his face. Lily dissolves into giggles, and Harry lifts her onto the counter. “Now, tell me, how’s the pasta sauce?” he holds out a spoon and puts it in her mouth for her to taste.

“Yummy!” Lily says after she swallows. “I think it’s ready. Can we eat it in front of the TV? I saw that you had one of the _Rugrats_ movies, and I love the old ones so much more than the new ones, but I can never find them anywhere. And Tommy is done by a different person, and it’s horrible.”

Eleanor frowns.  “They’ve made new _Rugrats_?” Lily’s eyes widen as she realises what she’s said.

“Um. I mean that-”

“Just that there’s some episodes, where they’ve grown up, right Lily?” Harry interjects, and Lily nods.

“Right,” she agrees meekly. Harry smiles reassuringly at her, and starts serving up bowls of pasta for everyone. Once Eleanor and Louis have their bowls, Harry smiles at him.

“You two go on ahead, put the DVD in? I need Lily’s help to clean up a few things,” he explains, and they both nod, Eleanor still looking confused.

“I am so _so_ sorry!” Lily blurts out once they’ve gone. “I didn’t mean for that to come out, I just forgot that I was in a different time and-”

“It’s okay, it’s alright,” Harry says, running his fingers through her curls. “Eleanor didn’t notice anything, okay? You just need to be a bit more careful, but it’s alright.”

“I'm still sorry,” Lily whispers. “I don’t want to hurt Daddy or anything.”

“You haven’t Lils, I promise,” Harry says, hugging her. “Also, I’ve been wondering, what the hell is your IQ? You sound a lot older than what you are, honestly.”

Lily smiles happily. “Daddy and- my other parent had a lot to prove when they had me. The hype around One Direction was still pretty big then, and they didn’t want anybody criticizing how I was being brought up. I’m just very advanced, I guess. Growing up, I was always around adults, mostly. I mean, Liam has a boy a bit older than me, but yeah, it was mainly just us and the grown-ups, so we learnt quickly.”

Harry nods. “Well, you’re a lovely, delightful little girl, so I think Louis and your mum should stop worrying,” he says, before fixing two more bowls of pasta. “Now, how about we go watch _Rugrats_ , and eat this food, and we try to pretend we don’t hate Eleanor as much as we do, yeah?”

Lily giggles, and Harry’s heart hurts, a little bit. She’s so much like Louis, and it’d be so, so easy to hate her, for what she represents (Louis being straight, Louis being in a relationship with someone who is definitely not Harry, Louis loving someone enough to start a family when them and not Harry) but she’s a part of Louis, and Harry loves Louis, so-

“Yeah!” Lily cheers, and Harry kisses her cheek.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/slytherinlarry_) and [tumblr](http://slytherin-larrie.tumblr.com).


	3. Chapter 3

Dinner that night was... awkward to say at the least. Eleanor was sweet and quiet and pretty (nothing new there, really) but Lily was guarded and often ignored Louis' girlfriend in favour for Harry (who was _loving_ having somebody else around who didn't like Eleanor, and who was much, _much_ , more obvious about it). Every time Eleanor tried to talk to Lily, she was shut down almost instantly, and she was finding herself very confused. 

"Why does she hate me so much?" Eleanor whispers in Louis' ear, when Lily and Harry were washing the dishes together. 

"She doesn't _hate_ you El," Louis mumbles back, frowning. "She's just- kind of protective of me, I guess."

Eleanor frowns. "You only met her a few days ago though. How is she already this close to you? And Harry, as well?"

"She's a girl, and Harry's- well, he's _Harry_ , of course she's gonna love him," Louis shrugs. "And she's my _sister_ , El, course we're gonna get along. Not to mention that she’s an absolute delight to be around.”

"Yeah, I suppose," Eleanor agrees, biting her lip, before smiling brightly. "She is a delight. And she looks just like you," she tells him. "Same hair, and eyes and like- even the way she acts is so similar to you. Really, she looks more like you than any of your other sisters. Except for her smile," she muses. "Her smile is- it’s so familiar, but it isn't _yours_."

"Must be her mums, I guess," Louis shrugs, though he too thought it was familiar. "We're only half related, anyway."

"How long is she staying?" Eleanor asks curiously. 

"Only two months," Louis replies sadly. “There’s not an exact date yet, just whenever her mum’s family emergency stops- being an emergency, I guess.”

"Will you see her again after that?"

"Not for a while, no. I think her mum's planning on moving to Australia," Louis lies. 

"That kinda sucks," Eleanor says, patting his hand. “I’m sorry.”

"Yeah," Louis agrees, looking over to where Harry and his daughter are splashing water on each other, laughing all the way. “Me too.” 

*

After her bath, Harry left Lily alone long enough to get into her new _One Direction_ pyjamas, and then went back into the guest room she was sleeping in to say goodnight.

“Okay, so I’m just down the hall, on the right, and Louis is on the left, okay? So if you need us, don’t hesitate to come get either one of us,” he tells her, and she rolls her eyes, but smiles and nods anyway.

“Thank you,” she says, her voice sleepy. “Can you sing to me? You always sing me to sleep,” she murmurs, and Harry’s eyebrows crinkle.

“Always?” he repeats, and Lily’s eyes widen.

“I meant only when you stay over, of course” she explains, and Harry nods.

“Right. Um, what should I sing?”

“Anything, I don’t mind,” Lily shrugs, snuggling further into her huge blanket.

“Okay, erm,” Harry says, thinking, before- “Oh, of course.” Lily looks up at him, and smiles as Harry starts singing the song he auditioned with so long ago.

Lily’s eyes are sleepy when Harry finishes singing, and he leans down and kisses her forehead. “Louis will be in to say goodnight in just a moment sweetie. Goodnight.”

“Night Harry,” Lily mumbles. "I love you," she continues, and Harry’s face lights up.

“Night baby,” he tells her, before tip toeing out of her room, and into the lounge room, where Eleanor and Louis are watching _Skins_ re-runs. “Lily’s ready for you to say goodnight,” Harry informs Louis, who smiles.

“Yeah, sure,” he says, lifting his arm from around Eleanor’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”

“Take your time,” Eleanor tells him, smiling sweetly. “I can wait.” Louis heads off to Lily’s room, and Harry sits down on one of the chairs, and pulls out his phone, pointedly ignoring his best friend’s girlfriend.

“So, how are you?” Eleanor asks him politely, and Harry barely lifts his head from his phone.

“Fine thanks, you?”

“I’m good. A bit shocked, of course, to find out that Louis has another sister, but- yeah, I’m well,” Eleanor replies, and Harry nods, while continuing to scroll through his Twitter feed.

“That’s nice,” he says.

“So, what do you think of her? Lily, I mean,” Eleanor questions persistently, and Harry sighs.

“She’s Lou’s sister,” he says. “She’s a smart, funny, beautiful little girl. She's half of Lou- in a way, so I wouldn't expect any more."

“She seems like a lot more than just a half sibling,” Eleanor muses. "I mean- Lottie and Fizzy, and even the twins don't seem this similar to him. And they all grew up together, as well."

"Yeah," Harry agrees absentmindedly, pointedly typing on his phone. Eleanor finally gets the hint, and turns to stare at the television, sighing slightly.   

*

Louis heads into the room they’ve given Lily for her stay, and after a moment of hesitation at the door, walks in. Lily’s laying all cuddled up in a big blanket, and her eyes are barely open. When she sees him, her face lights up in a smile, and Louis smiles back at her.

“Hello,” he says awkwardly, before taking a few steps and sitting down on her bed. “Harry said you were ready for a goodnight kiss.”

“I am,” she says, before she yawns. “Today has been a long day,” she informs him, sounding much older than her nine years. “I’m very tired.”

“Well, I hear travelling back through time does that to a person,” he jokes, his eyes lighting up when Lily smiles sleepily at him. “Go to sleep love. I’ll be here when you wake up in the morning, okay? We can have pancakes, or waffles, or whatever you want.”

“Okay Daddy,” Lily murmurs. “But you can’t make them, because you’ll burn the kitchen down. Harry says so.”

“Oh, is that so?” Louis asks. “Well, I’m going to have to have a word with your Uncle Harry then, aren’t I?”

Lily giggles, and her eyes flutter shut. “He’s not my Uncle Harry, Daddy, he’s- he’s just Harry.”

“Alright sweetie bean,” Louis agrees. “Go to sleep darling, and when you wake Just-Harry will make you breakfast, alright?”

“Okay Daddy,” Lily mumbles. “Kiss please?” Louis’s throat tightens, but he leans in, and presses his lips to her cheek, and then pulls away just as quickly.

“Goodnight Lily,” he tells her, his voice quiet.

“Night Daddy, I love you,” she mumbles, before letting her eyes shut completely. Her face goes slack, and her breathing slowly evens out, and she’s asleep within seconds. Louis smiles softly, before walking out of the room, pulling the door shut behind him. He slumps against it for a second, and takes a deep breath.

“I have a _daughter_ ,” he whispers to himself and- oh. Here comes the freak out everyone (including him) has been waiting for.

He rushes through the lounge room, runs straight past Harry and Eleanor in the lounge room (still sitting on opposite sides of the room, barely even acknowledging each other’s presence, and usually, that'd concern Louis, but well- he's got more pressing issues to deal with, at the moment). 

Harry jumps up the second he sees him, and reaches out an arm to stop him from leaving. “Lou, what’s wrong?” Harry demands, his eyes worried.

“I can’t stay here,” Louis gasps out. He sounds like he has a blocked nose, and a sore throat. The words feel harder to say than normal. They feel like they’re scratching and nicking against the back of his throat, deep in his mouth, and it’s hurting him to speak. “I have to go,” he mutters, his voice soft and breaking. “I have to go. I can’t stay here anymore. I shouldn’t…” he jumps from the chair, rushing past Harry, escaping his grip. He doesn’t look at Eleanor as he runs out of their apartment and- and it’s like a scene from a fucking movie. It feels like everything is in slow motion, and his heart beat and loud, laboured breathing is part of the soundtrack.

He finally gets out of their apartment, collapsing on the ground in the hallway. His lungs suddenly burn and his eyes go wide. He’s aware of the ache in all his muscles and he momentarily wonders if he’s forgotten how to breathe. He blinks, to clear his blurry eyes and he realises that he remembers; it’s just that the air doesn’t know how to fit back in his lungs anymore.

He pulls off his jumper, and fists his fingers into the shirt he’d pulled on and barley buttoned up when he climbed out of bed this morning. He plucked at it like it’s responsible for stopping the air from getting into his chest, but it doesn’t work. Curious, he looks down at his body, sure there’s something wrapped around him, stopping the breaths from reaching his lungs.

He guesses that it makes sense that there isn’t, but by the time he works that out, he’s more worried about the fact that his hands are shaking worse than that time he forgot to put on gloves when it snowed on that ski trip with Harry. He stands up, leaning against the wall, hoping to steady himself, but it doesn’t work; his knees are shaking as much (if not more) than his hands.

“Louis..” he hears a voice mutter. He lifts his head slightly, seeing that its Harry’s concerned face peering down on him.

“I- I have a fucking daughter,” he whispers, very aware of Eleanor hovering behind Harry, her heart shaped face filled with concern, and worry. “I just- I can’t breathe…” he admits, his knees buckling. “I can’t _breathe_ Harry.” He feels himself fall, and feels his head hit the wall, which he hopes will sort of wake him up a little, but basically has the opposite effect and suddenly, he’s dead to the world.

*

When he wakes up, it’s to Harry splashing water in his face, whispering _wake up Lou, come on_ , and he can hear Eleanor’s voice not very far away.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t call a doctor? He bloody _fainted_ Harry, for no apparent reason at all, and he looks like he’s _dead_ ,” she rambles, and Louis lets out a loud cough.

“’M not dead,” he mumbles, before coughing again.

“Oh thank _God_ , Louis,” Harry breathes out, his eyes lighting up and a smile spreading across his face.  “That’s the second time you’ve fainted on me in twenty four hours Lou, you scared me half to death!”

“The second time?” Eleanor screeches, and Louis groans.

“Ow, headache,” he says, in response to Harry’s worried look. “Keep it down guys, come on.”

“What even _was_ that Louis?” Eleanor questions, her tone angry, and Louis knows that anger is how she deals with confusion, and sadness. “You race out of here for no reason what so ever, and then you _faint_ on us, and now I find out that it wasn’t even the first time today? What is going _on_ Louis?”

Louis looks at Harry, eyes wide, eyes _begging_ his best friend to help him think of a lie to feed his girlfriend, to keep her from finding out the truth about Lily. Harry frowns for a second, but then turns to Eleanor. “Jeeze, give him a break El, he’s _fine_ , honestly, stop freaking out.”

“He’s not fine if he fainted twice in a day!” Eleanor snaps, and Harry rolls his eyes.

“He only fainted because he hasn’t been eating enough, obviously. We’ve been recording and having a load of meetings with Management about the new album, and tour, and not to mention we have to do interviews day, after day. It’s a lot of pressure, and we hardly get anytime to ourselves. And today, we _finally_ have a day off, and Louis gets called in to the studio to re-record some things, so of _course_ he’s exhausted, and tired, and hungry. We _all_ are,” Harry snaps back, glaring at her. “I mean, you may not _understand_ , because all you do is _shop_ , but-”

“That’s enough Harry,” Louis interrupts, when he notices that Eleanor is close to tears.

“Yeah, whatever,” Harry mumbles. “I’m gonna go make sure Lily’s alright before going to bed. Glad you’re alright Lou,” he says, before standing up and storming off, his footsteps becoming softer as he nears Lily’s room, obviously trying not to wake the sleeping girl.

“Sorry about him,” Louis offers. “He’s stressed about the band, and now we’re looking after Lily, and- it’s just a lot of pressure, right now.”

Eleanor nods, her big, brown eyes shining with tears. “I didn’t realize,” she mumbles. “I mean. I know the album is coming out in a month, but I thought it was all sorted and stuff. You always have time for me, so- I didn’t think about how stressful your life is at the moment.”

Louis reaches out, and covers her small hands with his somewhat larger ones. “Hey, it’s not your fault love. Harry was out of line, when he snapped at you, but he’s right. Everything’s just so stressful right now; I just sort of forgot to _breathe_.” Eleanor nods, her curls bouncing. Louis reaches his hand towards her face, and tucks a loose curl behind her ear. “I just need a break, from everything,” he admits.

“Do you have any time coming up that you could use to take a break?” Eleanor questions, curling up next to him on the couch. Louis runs his fingers through his hair, and mulls it over.

“We have a week off, next week. Well, five days, but- that feels like a month off to us, sometimes. Niall’s going back to Ireland, and Zayn’s planning on locking Perrie in their apartment and not leaving the entire time,” he jokes, and Eleanor’s soft giggle fills his ears.

“What about Liam and Harry?” she asks.

“I think Liam is taking Dani to Los Angeles, maybe. I can’t quite remember,” he shrugs. “And Harry’s going home for a few days.”

“What do _you_ want to do?”

Louis frowns. “I was gonna go back to Doncaster, see mum and the girls. But with Lily and all- I think it’d be weird, for mum,” he explains with a sigh.

“I’m sorry, that’d be tough,” Eleanor says sympathetically. “Any other ideas?”

“Maybe I’ll go to Holmes Chapell with H. Lily could meet Anne, and Gemma and we could take her to the bungalow. She’d like that, I think,” he says, softly smiling at the idea. “Maybe I could even talk to mum, see if she’d be willing to come down for a night or two. I miss the girls, and I know they’d love to see Harry- and Gemma and Anne as well actually.”

Eleanor nods, and tightens her grip on Louis’ hand. “That sounds fun,” she says, her words stiff and forced. Louis doesn’t notice.

“Yeah,” he agrees, excited now. “It does.” He’ll deal with the fact that he has a _daughter_ who traveled back in _time_ , later, maybe. Or never, even. That worked a lot better for the fragile state his mind is in at the moment.

*

“So, yesterday Harry, you were photographed shopping with a little girl, would you care to explain?” the interviewer asks- Louis has stopped bothering to remember their names; they all blend together after a while anyway- and Harry smiles.

“Yeah, well, that’s Lou’s half-sister,” he explains, and the cameras all turn to Louis, who blushes.

“I thought you only had _five_ half-sisters, none of which are the girl Harry was photographed with,” the woman points out, and Louis nods.

“Yeah, well I only found out about her the other week myself, actually. She’s one of my dad’s children, though he wasn’t aware she even existed- still isn’t, as far as I know- and her mum had a family emergency, and she knew that I shared the same father as her daughter, and she knew it’d be easier to find me, rather than my dad, so she did, and now I’m looking after Lily for a while,” he explains, grinning when Liam nods at him, as if to say, _good job Louis_.

“Well, that’s a bit of a shock,” the woman says, and Harry laughs.

“You’re telling us,” he jokes, and the audience laughs along with him. “But Lily’s a lovely little girl, and very smart for her age as well, so it’s not at all hard having her around.”

“How old is she?”

“Nine,” Louis supplies. “Well, nine years and four months, and she’s constantly reminding me,” he adds, rolling his eyes a little bit.

“So she’s not a bother then?” is the next question, and Louis frowns, because how could anyone as perfect as Lily ever be considered a _bother_?

“Not at all,” Liam jumps in. “We’ve all met her- took her to lunch yesterday- and she’s perfect, basically. She’s smart, and polite, and she's very outgoing." 

“She’s funny as well,” Niall jumps in. “Doesn’t let us get away with anything, really.”

“Feels like she’s been part of our family for ages, really,” Zayn adds, and Louis feels his heart burst with pride.

“Ah, she’s only been with you for less than a week and she already has all of _One Direction_ jumping in to defend her honor? This little girl will be the envy of about ten million girls, all over the world I believe,” the woman says, and the boys all laugh a bit. “So, is she staying with you then Louis? And Harry, since you two still live together, correct?”

“Yeah, she is. Harry actually has his own house, now, but I’m still in the apartment, and he’s moved back in while Lily’s around, to help out and stuff,” Louis tells her, feeling proud when he manages to tell the story they’d agreed on beforehand.

“Poor kid would probably starve if I left her and Louis alone,” Harry explains, a huge grin on his face. “Or die in a fire, as there is very _little_ to be said for Louis’ cooking skills, or- lack of, I guess.”

The interviewer laughs, completely enamored by Harry (like most women. And men, really. Or everyone under the sun, actually. Stupid curls.) and flicks her hair over the shoulder. “But you can cook, right Harry?”

“Oh yeah, I’m a fantastic cook, aren’t I Lou?” Harry grins, winking at him.

“Harry made us all pasta for dinner last night,” Louis tells her. “It was the best pasta I’ve had, and we’ve eaten pasta in Italy, even.”

“Well, Lily helped,” Harry admits, though the smile on his face is large.

“Now, when you say ‘us all,’ do you mean the band?” she asks.

“Nah, just me, Lily and my girlfriend, Eleanor,” Louis clarifies. “It was date night, but I was exhausted with recording, and everything with Lily, so we stayed in and watched _Rugrats_.”

“That sounds lovely,” the interviewer replies, and Louis and Harry nod, because, _yeah_ , it was. “Now, you have a few days off from work soon, am I correct?” The boys all nod in agreement, and she grins. “Any big plans?”

“I’m going home to Ireland for a few days, see me mum and dad and family and friends,” Niall offers. “Quite excited, actually. Been awhile.”

“I’m just staying in London, hang out with friends and stuff,” Zayn answers. “Just chill out, mainly.”

“And what about you three?” she points at Liam, Louis and Harry, who grin.

“We’re going to see our families,” Harry says, gesturing to himself and Louis. “Maybe take Lily to do a few kid things, like going to the zoo, and movies and stuff.”

“We’re not quite sure yet of the details and all,” Louis adds. “But it should be good fun.”

“And I’m going to America with my girlfriend,” Liam adds, smiling. “Quiet little getaway before everything gets crazy with the album, and tour and stuff.”

“Yes, the album, now, how is _that_ coming along?”

“Fantastically, actually,” Liam answers.  “We have to do a bit of fixing up some parts- Harry and I just came from the studio, actually- but it’s mostly all on track. We've had a lot more input with this album, so we all feel confident, but well, we are pretty nervous, about how it will be received but- _Live While We’re Young_ was received well, and we think the next single will be an even bigger hit-”

“It was written by our friend, Ed Sheeran, so of course it will be,” Harry interjects.

“-so basically we’re just keeping our fingers crossed, and hoping all goes well,” Liam finishes, and the woman smiles at him.

“Well, that’s all we have time for today boys, thank you so much for being on our show.”

“No, thank _you_ ,” Niall flirt, and makes an _oof_ sound when Louis elbows him.

“ _One Direction_ ladies and gentleman,” the woman says, gesturing to the five boys squished together on a small couch.

*

“Are we really going to see Grandma Jay and Auntie Lottie and Fizzy and Daisy and Phoebe?” Lily squeals, when they boys walk backstage. Harry grins, and scoops her up into his arms.

“Well, first, me and Lou were thinking- how about we take you to my house, and you can meet my mum, and my sister, Gemma? Then Grandma Jay can bring the girls up for a night,” he proposes, and Lily grins, and claps her hands together.

“I’d love to do that! I love Auntie Gemma, and Grandma Anne! Can we go to the bungalow as well? It’s my favourite place,” she adds.

Harry blinks. “You call my mum and sister ‘Grandma’ and ‘Auntie’?” he questions.

“Well- it’s just- I was always so close to them, so- like, _all_ of your parents and siblings are my extended grandparents and aunts and uncles,” she explains, suddenly beaming. The smile on her face is very similar to when Louis feels like he's made up a very good lie, and Harry files that piece of information away for later.

“Oh,” Harry says, nodding. “Right. So, does that sound good then?”

“Yes, of course! Will it be just us?” she asks, looking at her father intently.

“I was going to ask Eleanor to join us, for one night, but- if you aren’t comfortable with that, I won’t,” he says, smiling at Lily. “I know you don’t like her, but she _is_ my girlfriend and at the moment, there isn’t really a reason for us to break up,” he explains, and he’s biting his nails nervously, when he misses Harry and Lily both muttering _there’s a lot of reasons to break up, actually_ , at the same time.

“I guess I can put up with her for _one night_ ,” Lily compromises. “But-”

“I know, I know, you can’t make any promises,” Louis grins, and Lily smiles sheepishly. “Now, me and Harry have to go do some more recording, would you like to come with us?”

Lily’s face lights up, and Louis’ feels the ice around his heart melt, just a little bit. “Oh please can I?” she squeals, and he laughs.

“Of course sweetie.”

*

“ _She’s addicted to the feeling of letting go, oh-oh,_ ” Lily sings along to Harry’s solo, causing Liam to smile. They'd managed to talk Liam into coming and watching Lily, while Harry and Louis recorded.

“You have a beautiful voice,” he compliments, and Lily smiles.

“Thank you,” she replies. “I guess it helped that both my parents are fantastic singers.”

“Your mum sings?” Liam questions, and Lily hits her hand on her forehead.

“Damn it,” she mutters. “I wasn’t meant to say that!”

Liam grins at her. “Is it Cher?” he questions, his mind racking through female singers he knows with curly hair. When Lily wrinkles her nose though, he knows he’s wrong. “What about-”

“Liam!” Lily huffs. “I can’t _tell_ you, okay?”

Liam pouts. “What about just one little clue?”

“No,” Lily tells him, firmly.

“But-”

“I said _no_ Liam,” she repeats, and Liam moans, but leaves it alone. 

“So, what’s your favourite song from this album? I’m assuming you’ve heard them all?” he questions, and Lily grins.

“ _They Don’t Know About Us_ ,” she tells him, and Liam tilts his head to the side.

“That song isn’t on our album though, we chose _Feels Like Fireworks_ , instead,” he tells her. “Is it on our next one, maybe?”

Lily’s confused frown matches Liam’s almost perfectly. “No,” she replies. “I distinctly remember that it was on _Take Me Home_.”

“Well- it’s not Lils,” Liam tells her.

“But- but it _has_ to be!” She says, suddenly looking at him with frightened eyes. “If it isn’t- then I might not be born!”

“I- what- how can a _song_ stop you from being born?” Liam asks.

“It just _will_ ,” Lily shoots back. “Just trust me, that song helps Dad get together with my other parent, okay, so it _needs_ to be on the album.”

“But- but it was _cut_ Lily, we have _Feels Like Fireworks_ on instead, and we can’t just _change_ it- the album’s meant to be out in less than _two months_!”

“I don’t care how you do it, but you absolutely _have_ to get _They Don’t Know About Us_ on this album, or it will mess up the _entire future_ , and I can’t not be born, I just can’t be!” tears start to well up in Lily’s eyes, and Liam mumbles _shit_.

“Okay, okay don’t cry, I’ll fix this,” he tells her, and Lily sniffles.

“Please do it soon, _please_ ,” she begs.

“I promise,” he murmurs, pulling her close. Liam may have seemed calm on the outside, but on the inside, his mind was frantically trying to figure out how to get this song back on the album, after the producers had already cut it for not being ‘good enough.’

“Shit,” he whispers again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/slytherinlarry_) and [tumblr](http://slytherin-larrie.tumblr.com).


	4. Chapter 4

When they finish recording, Liam makes some excuses and heads back to their apartment building, stopping at by Niall's flat first, and dragging him to Zayn's.

“So the song apparently is like, _super_ important to her being born, so it _has_ to be on the album,” Liam finishes. Zayn frowns, and takes a sip of his tea.

“The song was cut though,” he reminds Liam, who groans and rolls his eyes.

“I _know_ that Z, that’s why I’m so _stressed_ about this,” Liam explains. “If it’s not on the album, apparently Lou won’t meet Lily’s mum- or he might, but he won’t like, get her to fall in love with him, which means that Lily won’t be born, which is really, _super_ bad basically.”

“Okay, look, we can try and talk to the producers, see if we can cut _Feels Like Fireworks_ , and put _They Don’t Know About Us_ on it, but- I don’t know how well it’s gonna work. They cut it for a reason, and-”

“We could tell them that _Feels Like Fireworks_ is too sexual?” Niall suggests, biting his lip. “We already know that _Live While We’re Young_ got a lot of negative comments from parents, what with naked photos on phones and having sex with a girl you’d just met and all, and come on, _Feels Like Fireworks_ is just like that. We could explain to Modest that we don’t feel comfortable doing that, not now that Lou’s sung it in front of Lily, who freaked out about it?”

Liam and Zayn share a look before beaming at Niall. “That’s- that’s fucking _brilliant_ Niall,” Zayn praises, grinning.

Liam nods along. “Okay, so, I’ll ring Modest now, and explain everything,” he tells them. “Niall, I think Harry and Lou wanted you to go to lunch-" There’s a knock on the door, interrupting him, and Lily’s little voice rings out.

“Niall, come on, we’re going to lunch!” she yells, making the three boys inside grin. Niall opens the door, and Louis, Harry and Lily all tumble in.

“Hi,” Harry says, rolling his eyes. “Sorry, but the kids here are hungry, so.”

Louis mock growls, and as Lily hits Harry's thigh. “You two wanna come?" Louis questions Liam and Zayn. "We’re just going to get Maccas, at Lily's request, then coming back here."

“I've got to go ring Management," Liam frowns. “Plus, I’m taking Dani to lunch in a little bit, before she goes shopping with El,” Liam adds.

“Ew,” Lily mutters.

“Oh come on Lily, Eleanor isn’t that bad,” Liam says, and Lily blushes.

“Sure,” she says, frowning.

“Oh, Niall, Dani wanted to see you as well, actually. Apparently has a cute friend she wants to set you up with?” Liam says, shrugging. Niall grins.

“Oh yeah, she told me about that! She’s got this super fit friend, Clare,” Niall explains. “Sorry guys, looks like I’ll be skipping the Maccas,” Niall says, grinning.

“Okay, whatever,” Lily mumbles. “Can we go get food now?”

“I’ll come too,” Zayn adds. “Perrie cancelled on me, has a thing with the girls, so.”

“The _Little Mix_ girls?” Lily asks, staring up at Zayn with wide eyes. Zayn nods, smiling.

“Do you like Little Mix?” he asks, and Lily nods.

“I _love_ them!” she squeals. “Perrie is my _favourite_ girl ever! I wanna be just like her when I grow up!” she declares, and Louis shakes his head.

“If you date anybody like Zayn, _ever_ , there will be trouble,” he warns his daughter, who grins toothily.

“Oh, damn, well it looks like when I get back to the future, I better break up with my boyfriend,” she says, pouting. Niall, Zayn and Liam laugh, while Harry and Louis glare at Lily.

“ _Boyfriend_?” they both ask, shock on their faces.

Lily laughs, and the glares on both Harry and Louis’ face melt into smiles. “Calm down Dad, I’m _nine_ , don’t worry.”

Louis frowns. “No dating till you’re _thirty_ ,” he tells her, and Lily laughs again.

“I think that forty sounds more reasonable,” Harry objects, and Louis nods in agreement.

“You guys suck,” Lily whines, before her stomach growls loudly. “Can we go get food now, _please_?”

“Alright, we’ll see you lot later than,” Louis says, as Harry and Zayn walk out of the apartment. “Tell El I said I’ll call her later, yeah?” he says to Liam, who nods.

“I’ll pass that on to Dani,” Liam agrees, and Lily rolls her eyes, and coughs loudly. Louis sighs, and heads out the door behind Harry and Zayn.

Liam and Niall are left alone, and Liam turns to Niall, a confused look on his face.

“Niall, what do you think of Lily?” he asked, frowning slightly.

“I think she’s adorable,” Niall grins. “She looks a lot like Louis too. And she's definitely got a lot of us in her, especially Harry."

“I know. That’s what’s weird about it. She certainly loves Harry as much as Louis, even,” Liam replies, eyebrow furrowing. Niall shrugs, and Liam sighs. “It’s just weird, is all. It’s _especially_ weird that she never calls Harry ‘Uncle Harry,’ like the rest of us. And her obvious hate for Eleanor. Something’s just- not right here.”

“I’d get mad too if my dad was dating a random girl and not my other dad,” Niall responds in a casual tone, playing with his phone. Liam pauses, and looks intently at his friend.

“Say that again?” Liam commands, and Niall frowns.

“I’d get mad too if my dad was dating a random girl and not my other dad,” he repeats slowly.

“My- _other dad_?” Liam echo’s, whimpering slightly. “What the _hell_ do you mean by that?”

Niall shrugs. “What else could I possibly mean by that?” he questions, and Liam blinks at him. “God, and _you’re_ supposed to be the _smart_ one, honestly.”

*

After lunch, Harry, and Louis get called in to the studio’s to re-record some stuff, and decide to take Lily with them.

“This is _Little Mix_ , turn it up!” Lily shrieks from the backseat of the car. Louis grins and nods at Harry who presses some buttons. Suddenly, _Wings_ is blaring through the car’s speakers, and Harry and Louis are singing along loudly, their voices drowning out Lily's.

“ _These wings were made to fly_!” the boys finish, singing very loudly and very out of tune.

“You guys suck,” Lily informs them after Harry turns the radio down.

“Yes, I’m sure we do. We’re clearly just in a world famous boy band for nothing,” Louis replies sarcastically.

Lily’s sparkling laugh makes them all smile. “I’m sure you could do better, right Lil?” Harry teases, and Lily blushes.

“Well, _duh_ ,” she replies.

“Well, go on,” Louis tells her, actually eager to here Lily sing properly.

“I don’t want to show you up,” Lily jokes. “Plus, my throats a bit sore. We’re having a very cold winter in the future, and I- I think I’m getting sick,” she says, averting her eyes so she doesn’t have to look at Louis.

“Oh sweetie,” he coos, wrapping an arm around her. “We’ll make you a hot chocolate and some soup when we get home, okay?”

“By ‘we’ you mean me, right?” Harry questions from the driver’s seat. Louis grins, and nods.

“You know me ever so well,” he agrees, and Harry laughs.

“Did you know, in the future, you can actually make soup?” Lily informs her dad, smiling. “And, even better, you can make _toast_ , without even _burning_ it!” she says, and Louis’ mouth falls open in mock shock.

“ _Really_? I can do all _that_?” he asks, and Lily giggles.

“But you made my two minute noodles go all icky and soggy,” she tells him, crinkling her nose. “It was _gross_.”

“I’m sorry baby girl,” Louis says, leaning around the seat to smile at her. “I’ll start practicing now, okay? So by the time you’re born- like, in _my_ time- I’ll have it down to a science.”

“Okay Daddy,” Lily says, smiling. “I love you,” she says, yawning as she rests her head on his chest.

“Love you too,” Louis responds, smiling over at Harry who's watching Lily in the rear-view mirror with a fond look on his face.

*

When they get to the studio, they find that Niall's already there, and he agrees to stay on and watch Lily once he's finished.

“I love that song,” Niall says, finally coming out of the recording booth. “Honestly, I could sing it all day long, and never get bored,” he continues, and Harry groans.

“Yeah well, wanna sing my solo’s too? In fact, you can go in and record them for me, right now?” he begs, and Niall grins.

“Don’t be an idiot H,” he says, and shoves Harry in the booth, laughing quietly as he goes and sits next to Lily, who’s on the ground drawing on some paper Louis managed to find her.

Louis’ phone is ringing again, and for the eighteenth time in two days, he ignores it, frowning all the while.

“Was that your mum again?” Niall asks, frowning.

“Yeah,” Louis replies, his voice sad. “I just- I can’t talk to her, not yet. Not until I figure out how to explain Lily to here, without her somehow trying to contact my dad,” he explains.

“I thought that Grandma Jay didn’t keep in contact with your dad?” Lily asks, her blue eyes wide.

Louis lifts her up onto his lap, smiling softly at his daughter. “She doesn’t, really. But like- she has his number and stuff, just in case something happened to me, and she needed him. I just don’t want her asking him questions.”

“Wont he be the one asking questions?” Lily asks. “I mean- considering it’s all over the news that he apparently has a daughter?”

Louis shakes his head. “Nah. He doesn’t keep up to date with anything related to me, or One Direction. Stays about as far away from it as possible, actually.”

Lily frowns, and reaches up to pat her dads cheek. “Sorry Daddy,” she whispers.

“It’s okay,” Louis tells her. “I have you, and the boys, right?” he says, tickling her belly. Lily shrieks with laughter, and Louis smiles.

“Stop it!” she commands, and Louis pokes his tongue out, but does anyway.

“You’re no fun,” he complains, and Lily glares at him.

“I’m plenty of fun!” she defends. “But I don’t like to be tickled when I’m hungry,” Lily whines, a pout on her face. Niall nods his head in agreement with the young girl.

“Ohh, me too! I want food as well,” he chirps. “Louis, can you _please_ take us to go get food?” Louis glares at the blonde boy.

“Do not _encourage_ her Niall, you’re a grown man! And anyway, you both just ate less than an _hour_ ago!” he says, dumbfounded, before grinning when Niall pouts like a child.

“Actually, I’m still nineteen, not a proper man yet,” Niall teases. “And that was a whole _hour_ ago!”

“I said _no_ ,” Louis repeats.

“But _Daddy_ ,” Lily whimpers.

“Nope, I’m putting my foot down,” Louis says, before putting Lily back on the ground next to Niall’s chair and turning his back on the both of them and ignoring their mumbling while he watches Harry who’s singing in the recording booth.

Niall frowns. “Oh well, we tried,” he says to Lily, who grins at him.

“Oh no, we aren’t _nearly_ done,” she says, eyes twinkling. “Just wait until Harry finishes singing, alright?”

“What have you got planned little miss?” Niall questions, eyeing the little girl curiously.

Lily winks at him. “Oh, nothing. But I can promise you that afterwards, they’ll give me whatever I want,” she whispers, very aware of her dad sitting close to her.

Niall blinks at her, then shrugs. “Whatever you say kiddo.”

Lily grins.

*

“I am getting _so sick_ of this album already,” Harry groans, when he finally comes out of the recording booth. Louis pats Harry on his shoulder.

“We’re almost done recording it though, so-”

“Yeah, and then we have to start _promoting_ it, and then _singing_ the songs at concerts and- ugh, I’m _exhausted_ ,” he complains. Louis smiles softly, and squeezes his hand.

“At least we get a few days off soon. And we’ll get to see our mums, and sisters,” Louis reminds him, his voice taking on a soothing tone.

“And we’ll get peace and quiet,” Harry says, smiling slightly.

“And ice cream,” Louis adds. “Lots of ice cream.”

Harry nods, and giggles- he actually fucking _giggles_ \- and Louis smiles and reaches up to ruffle his hair.  “Definitely,” he agrees.

Harry nudges his head into Louis’ hand like a cat looking for a good scratch behind the ears, and Louis’ smile grows wider, and he runs his hands through Harry’s curls. “Love your hair,” he murmurs, and Harry smiles shyly at him.

“Thanks?” he says, raising an eyebrow. 

Louis laughs nervously. “Sorry, just- slipped out.”

Harry smiles. “S’okay. I already knew you loved my luscious locks. I mean, according to Tumblr anyway,” he teases.

Louis laughs, and pulls his hand away. “Right. Of course. It must have slipped my mind that we were secretly dating and whatnot.”

Harry nods wisely. “Yep,” he agrees, popping the ‘p’.  “I forget about that all the time also. Seems a shame though, that we forget it.” Louis looks at him, raising an eyebrow.  “Because of all the extremely hot sex we apparently have,” Harry elaborates, his grin stretching from ear to ear now. “I’d hate to think that was really happening and I couldn’t remember a bit of it.”

Louis laughs loudly, and Harry blushes. “You’re an idiot,” Louis informs him, voice fond.

“Duh,” Harry replies, before looking around the room. “Hey, where’s Lily?”

Louis’ eyes dart around the room. “Dammit,” he swears.  “Her and Niall wanted food, and I said no. I bet they’ve gone off and got some anyway.”

Harry laughs and pulls his beanie over his hair. “Come on, let’s at least go make sure they aren’t hiding around here somewhere before we call the police, or whatever it is you’re planning on doing.”

Louis grins.  “I was thinking more the FBI, actually,” he teases, causing Harry to laugh. “This is a serious matter Styles! We might have to call in the FBI, CSI, NCIS, and every other letter in the alphabet! And you’re standing there laughing? I am highly disappointed in you!”

Harry laughs even louder, before managing to smooth his face into a concerned look. “Let’s call Niall first though, just in case? Don’t want to bother the whole _alphabet_ for nothing at all,” he suggests, pulling his phone out of his pocket and handing it to Louis, who dials Niall’s number.

“Hello?” Niall answers on the third ring.

“Where did you take my daughter?” Louis growls, and Niall laughs.

“Nowhere,” he replies. “ _She_ kidnapped _me_ , I swear.”

“Well- where are you?” Louis responds.

“Sorry Lou, I’m under strict instructions not to tell you anything, and honestly, I’m more scared of the kid than you,” Niall says, not sounding sorry at all.

“ _Hey, I am_ not _a_ child!” Louis hears Lily yell out.

“Niall Horan,” Louis snarls. “You better tell me where you are right now or-”

Louis pulls the phone away from his ear and stares at it. “What happened?” Harry questions.

“The little Irish fucker hung up on me,” Louis says incredulously. Harry laughs, but turns it into a cough when Louis glares.

“Sorry. Nasty bug going around right now,” Harry says, grinning when Louis smiles slightly. “So, where shall we look first then?” Harry asks.

“It sounded like he was still in the building- I couldn’t hear any cars or other people or anything,” Louis muses. “I dunno. The bathrooms, I guess?” Harry shrugs. Louis nods and they head towards the girls bathroom.

“What now?” Louis asks, as they stand outside the door. “We can’t go _in_ there. Unless-”

“Don’t look at _me_!” Harry protests. “ _You_ look more feminine than I do!”

“ _Please_ ,” Louis responds, rolling his eyes. “With your hair and the way you stand, I have trouble telling you and _Lily_ apart sometimes.”

Harry glares. “You suck,” he whines, before pushing open the door. “Lily?” he calls as he walks in. “Sweetie, you in here?”

The door swings shut behind him and Louis waits outside. Seconds later, a small squeal is heard and Harry comes hurtling out of the bathroom. “She’s not in there,” he informs Louis, his face bright red. “An old woman was though, and she’s not all too happy with me, so- let’s get out of here, please?”

It takes Louis a few minutes to stop laughing, but after Harry hits the back of his head hard enough, he finally shuts up. “That’d only happen to you Harry, honestly,” Louis teases.

Harry grumbles. “Whatever Lou. Where now?”

“Dunno. One of the other recording booths? Maybe Niall took her to go play some music or something?” he suggests. Harry nods, and they start walking around the building aimlessly, looking in a few of the rooms.

“This place is huge,” Harry complains. “We’re never gonna find her. Try ringing Niall again,” he tells Louis, who nods and pulls his phone out of his pocket, hitting redial.

“Louis?” Niall answers. “Um- don’t freak out on me, but- have you happened to have seen Lily anywhere?” he asks, and Louis groans.

“You _lost_ my _daughter?_ ” he screeches, and Harry pales. “Niall, I swear to God-”

“I didn’t _lose_ her, exactly,” Niall defends. “We were hiding, in one of the closets- Lily planned to jump out and scare you, when you walked past is all, but I had to pee, right, so I told her to stay there and that I’d be right back, but when I came back she was gone and-”

“Where are you?” Louis growls.

“Near the guys toilets, on the second floor,” Niall whispers.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Louis snaps, before hanging up.

“Lou, wait-” Harry says, grabbing his arm before he leaves. “Look, you stay here, and finish looking alright, and I’ll go up to Niall because honestly, you’ll probably kill him if you see him right now, and I kind of like him, even if he is a bit of a twat and lost your kid, but-”

“Whatever, we’re wasting time,” Louis says. “Call me if you find her, okay? There’s about five more studios down here; I’ll check them and let you know, okay?” Harry nods, and the boys both walk off in different directions.

*

“Louis is going to _kill_ you,” Harry tells Niall the second he sees him.

Niall blanches. “I _know_ , I’m sorry, she’s just like- like a fucking ninja, or something, honestly!  I wasn’t even gone for five _minutes_ and she’s just disappeared!”

Niall looks frantic with worry, so Harry rubs his back. “It’s okay, we’ll find her. She can’t have gone too far, and anyway it's not like we've lost her somewhere dangerous or anything. It's just Lou's protective parenting instincts kicking in I guess.” He says comfortingly. “Look, you take the left half of this floor, and I’ll go this way, and we’ll meet back here in ten minutes, yeah? If you find her, _please_ call Louis, poor guy is _freaking_ the fuck out.”

Niall nods his head. “I also rang security- Paul’s here, because word got out we were here and so there’s fans everywhere outside, so he’s on the lookout for her, and promised that she hasn’t left the building yet, and he won’t let her if she tries to anyway.”

“Good job,” Harry praises. “Alright, so, here in ten, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Niall says, before rushing off.

*

“Lily?” Louis calls out, poking his head inside a door. His shoulders slumped when he realises there's nobody in there. He walks through the hallway, opening every door he passed and searching it. As Louis nears the end of the passage way, he suddenly hears someone playing the piano. He leans his head closer to the door, and the person starts singing.

 _This love is only getting stronger,_  
_I don’t wanna wait any longer,_  
_I just wanna tell the world that you’re mine, girl._

Louis smiled, relief flooding his every thought. _Lily_. He was certain that was his daughter’s voice, even though- something sounded very familiar about it. Something he was sure wasn’t familiar because of his own voice. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

Louis leaned forward and poked his head inside the door. When he see's Lily, she's concentrating so hard on hitting the right notes on the keyboard that she doesn’t notice him. She's singing the lyrics of their song with so much passion, and emotion that Louis can only think of one thing throughout the entire time he watches her. It was the same passion he saw in Harry during concerts. During the song, Louis can't see himself in the little girl at all. It was all Harry Styles.

Everything that had occurred in the past few days suddenly came flooding back into his mind. It was _so_ obvious. He just didn’t think it was possible because- it was _Harry_. And Harry was his _best friend_ and _band mate_. Not to mention he was a _boy_. But it made sense, even if- at the same time, it didn’t. It was almost too ridiculous for Louis to even _think_ about. He gripped the handle of the door tightly, knuckles turning white, and in one fluid motion, he opened the door, loudly.

Lily gasps at the noise, and turns to face her father properly. She stares at her father’s shocked face, and opens her mouth a few times to talk, but can't seem to manage to get the words out. They stay like that for a few moments, until Louis finally breaks the silence.

“This is why you haven’t sung properly in front of us, isn’t it?” Louis asks. Lily remained motionless, and didn’t answer. “You sang, a bit, but in a joking way. Never like _this_. You know, I actually found it a little odd, because you said you had a good voice, and I mean- considering you’re always around us singing, you should have sung along at some stage. But it would have been a dead giveaway if you had, right?”

“Dad, I-”

“How could I have been such an _idiot_ about this?” Louis mumbles, as though to himself. He laughs bitterly then. “But how the hell was I even supposed to _know_. How is that even _possible_?” Lily looked down at her lap.

“Dad-”

“Answer me Lily,” Louis demanded, stepping forward and crouching down in front of her daughter. He gently guided her face up until their eyes were at the same level. “Is it Harry? Is he your- your _dad_ as well as me?”

Lily looked as though she was going to argue, or come up with some weak excuse, but Louis frowned at her. “Yes,” Lily replied softly, nodding her head.

Louis closed his eyes, and nodded slowly. He took a deep breath, and let it out.

“Right,” he murmured, before he fainted.

Lily’s eyes widened and she let out a small squeal. She bent down and tried to shake Louis as hard as she could, even going as far as to slap his cheek gently.

“Dad, Daddy wake _up_!” she begged. “Oh, this is _so_ not how I pictured this moment!” she groaned.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/slytherinlarry_) and [tumblr](http://slytherin-larrie.tumblr.com).


	5. Chapter 5

“Well, say _something_ ,” Lily snaps. “It’s been twenty minutes, honestly Daddy.” Louis just continued to stare at the wall. Still trying to formulate a proper sentence in his head. Something other than _Harry is her dad, me and Harry have a kid, I have a kid that’s not just mine but Harry’s too_. “Daddy, just say something. Ask me anything. I know you probably have a lot of questions.”

Louis snorted. _What and understatement_. “So, um, Harry’s the- mum, huh?” Louis finally managed to spit out. Lily nodded. “He’s your other parent,” Louis says. Lily nodded again. “Harry’s your father,” Louis mumbles. Lily rolled her blue eyes.

“Yes Daddy, he’s my mum, other parent, dad, whatever you want. He raised me, with you, yes. Now, would you mind asking a different question, that isn’t just a version of ‘is Harry the dad?’” Lily says, groaning when Louis whimpered.

“H-how did this _happen_?” Louis asks, his voice weak.

“Well, obviously you fell in love,” Louis whimpered again. “Got married,” and again. “And had me- will you please _stop that_?”

“B-but _how_? I mean, Harry, he, and I, and-”

“You know, I’m really grateful that I inherited Dad’s brains, seeing as I can’t rely on you for any coherence,” Lily says, and Louis blinks, and rolled his head back so he was staring at the ceiling, with furrowed eyebrows and mouth hanging slightly open.

“How the fuck-”

“Daddy! Language!” Lily snaps. Louis sighs, and bows his head to cover his face with his hands. Suddenly, he lifted his head and turned to Lily.

“Wait, something doesn't make sense. Why do you have H-Harry’s genes _and_ mine? That's not even possible! I mean- and don’t quote me on this- but I thought that you only get to choose one persons- _sperm_ to put into whoever’s stomach you choose to use if you're a g- _gay_ couple,” Louis gulped. “So how'd that happen?”

“How did I travel back in time?” Lily shrugged her shoulders. “Science has come a long way,” she says, when Louis just looks clueless. “So they were able to convert your sperm into an egg and put it with Dad’s sperm. And then they put it into a surrogate, and- well, you know the rest. So technically,  _you're_  my mum.”

Louis’s eyes rolled back into his head as he tried really hard not to faint again.

“Look, Lily, I'm sorry, but I don't know if I can do this. If it were Eleanor, yeah okay, sure. If it were- _Danielle_ , hell I'll even try if it was really her. But Harry?” Louis shook his head. “I can't.”

“Why?” Lily asked, clearly upset.

“Because he's- he’s a _guy_! And in my entire life, I’ve never thought about being with another guy, not ever. And now I just found out that my kid's other parent is the guy who, is not only my best friend, but is also the same guy I’m in a band with, and the same guy that I can’t date, because we actually have a _contract_ that says so!” Louis frowned as he realised that his daughter was starting to cry.

“But you promised to do everything to make Dad happy, and he said _you're_ what makes him happy,” Lily sobbed. Louis gaped at her.

“I said that? _He_ said that?” Lily cried even more, and Louis immediately regretted it and wrapped his arms around his daughter. “Oh God, I'm so sorry Lily, please don’t cry baby girl,” he begged, but Lily continued to blubber. “What do you want me to do?” Louis asked quietly as he stared at her daughter. Lily sniffled a little then she spoke.

“I want you to at least try to see if you could be with Dad. Just stop running away.”

Louis, seeing the sadness in Lily's eyes and that pout she has on, just couldn't deny her wishes and reluctantly gave a nod. “I’ll try.”

“Do you promise, Daddy?”

There it was again. The word that just made everything so real and so difficult.

“Yes, I promise,” he agreed.

Lily smiled a little. She wiped away the tears from her eyes and broke out into a full ‘Styles’ grin.

“Well, I’m glad that’s sorted. I was worried I was going to have to use the ‘storm out crying until you follow and give in’ method on you.” Louis gaped at the little girl who was moments ago about to break down but was now smiling smugly up at him.

“Oh my God, you _are_ Harry’s daughter!”

“Actually, I got that one from you,” Lily says, grinning.

“Ugh,” Louis groaned, while Lily giggled. “Look- Lil, I’ll try, okay? But- this will be hard. Harry’s straight, and- _I’m_ straight- or at least, I thought we were, and-” Louis breaks off, confused. “This is a lot to deal with,” he admits, and Lily clambers into his lap, and wraps her arms around his neck.

“I know Daddy, but I promise, it’ll be worth it, okay? You and Dad are soul mates, you’ve told me that yourself many times,” she tells him, and Louis lets out a deep breath he didn’t even know he was holding.

“Tell me what to do,” he says, and Lily frowns. 

“I can’t,” she sighs. “But- if I _could_ , I’d suggest just starting with a date. Only, don’t tell Dad it’s a date.”

Louis nods. “I- right, okay.”

“Daddy, it’s gonna work out, okay, just-” Louis is cut off when the door slams open and Harry bursts in, Niall right behind him.

“Fucking hell, _finally_ , we’ve been looking for you for ages, we were fucking worried _sick_ ,” Harry blurts out, the worried frown on his face melting the second he sees Lily.

“ _Dad_ ,” Lily draws out the word into two syllables, and glares at Louis. “You didn’t tell me that everyone was _looking_ for us!”

Louis blushes. “I forgot,” he mumbles, avoiding Harry’s eyes.

“How could you _forget_ , when you practically _killed_ me for letting her run off,” Niall says, crossing his arms.

Lily looks over at Louis, who seems unable to form a full sentence, and sighs, and fumbles for an explanation to give Harry and Niall. “Ignore him, he’s just having another freak out about having a daughter again,” she explains, mentally patting herself on the shoulder for thinking of that, and Harry frowns, reaching over to rub Louis’ back.

Louis flinches and jerks away from Harry’s touch, leaving Harry looking confused, and hurt. “Sorry,” Louis whispers. “Lily’s right- I’m just, freaking out. I need- just-”

“Need something normal?” Harry fills in, and Louis nods.

“Yeah,” Louis agrees, still avoiding his best friend’s eyes. “Normal would be good.”

Harry sighs, but pulls out his phone, and hands it to Louis. “Call her,” he tells him.

“What?” Louis stares up at him, furrowing his brow.

“Eleanor, call her,” Harry repeats. “Your phone is flat- or off, I rang and it went straight to voicemail, so. Call her.”

Louis smiles softly at his best friend, and nods slowly. “Thank you,” he says, taking the phone. “I’ll just-”

“Yeah,” Harry says, smiling back at Louis as he heads out the door. 

“That was- really nice,” Niall comments, staring at Harry with wide eyes. 

Lily shoots a glare at the blonde boy. “No it wasn’t!” she squeals. “How could you _do_ that? We _hate_ Eleanor, remember?” she questions Harry, frowning at him.

“I know,” Harry agrees. “But Lou doesn’t, and he needed something normal, and- Eleanor’s basically the only normal thing in his life, so.”

“But we _hate_ her, and she’s _not my mum_!” Lily protests. “Daddy can’t keep seeing her!” she cries, and Harry frowns, and reaches down to pick up the little girl.

“Sweetie, if Eleanor isn’t the girl he’s supposed to end up with, he won’t end up with her, okay? Louis is smart, and he’ll figure it out eventually. He knows that he’s not in love with Eleanor; he’s just too scared to admit it, alright? But I promise, he’ll work it out soon,” Harry promises. Lily blinks tears out of her eyes, and nods her head slowly.

“Promise?” she whimpers, and Harry smiles, and nods as well.

“Pinky promise,” he says, holding his pinky out to Lily, who smile’s wider and links her pinky with Harry’s.

“Thank you,” she mumbles, resting her head on his chest. “I love you.”

“Love you too baby girl,” Harry whispers, running his fingers through her hair.

*

“Hello?” Eleanor’s voice answers, clearly confused as to why _Harry_ ’ _s_ phone is ringing her.

“It’s me, Louis,” Louis tells her.

“Oh, hey,” she says, her voice instantly happier. “Why are you calling me on Harry’s phone?”

“Mine’s flat,” he answers. “Can I come see you? Are you busy?”

“I was just about to go out, but you can come over if you want? Are you alright?” she replies, and Louis feels bad, so bad, because he knows he’s going to have to break her heart-it might not be today, or tomorrow, but eventually, he will.

(There's a part of him that screams _you don’t have to do it, you could stay with her, Harry will find a nice girl one day- or boy, whatever- and you and Eleanor can still have children, can still have a little baby Lily_ , but Louis ignores it, because Lily is perfect, just the way she is, and Louis doesn’t think he could ever have a daughter this perfect with Eleanor).

“I need to see you,” he answers. “I’m at the studio, but I’ll be there soon, okay?”

“Okay,” Eleanor answers, and Louis hangs up. His eyes roll towards the ceiling as he slides down the wall, and sits on the ground. There’s a million thoughts running through his head, all so quickly he’s having trouble separating them. His entire world is just a blur of _Harry Lily daughter husband love Harry Lily_ over and over again, and-

Fucking _hell_ , what the fuck is he supposed to do now?

*

Louis runs his hand through his hair, before sighing and knocking on Eleanor’s door.

“Hey baby,” she trills seconds later once she’s opened the door.

“Hey,” Louis answers, frowning slightly as Eleanor leads him inside, and sits down on her couch.

“Where are the girls?” Louis asks, sitting next to her

“Shopping. We had a girl’s day planned, shopping and a movie, but I backed out when you called. I might go meet up with them after though, for dinner, if you wanted to come?” she offers, and Louis smiles tightly. Eleanor, noticing this, frowns at him. “What’s wrong Lou?” she questions, worry evident on her pretty face.

“Everything,” Louis answers, squeezing his hand into a fist.

“Wanna tell me about it?” she questions, slowly easing his hand into a straighter position, and locking their fingers together, squeezing his hand slightly in reassurance.

Louis stares down at their interlocked hands and thinks _this isn’t right,_  thinks, _our hands use to fit perfectly together but now I just feel like your hand is too small and now it’s just not working for me anymore._

“Do you ever feel like your whole world is falling apart and there’s nothing you can do to stop it?” he answers in response. Eleanor’s eyebrows snap together, and she squeezes his hand tighter.

“Louis, you’re scaring me,” she mumbles. “What’s wrong?”

“I just- do you love me?” he asks, and Eleanor’s frown deepens.

“Of course I do,” she says, pulling her hand out of his. “Why? Do you not love me?”

“That’s-”

“It’s a simple question Louis,” Eleanor interrupts, and Louis sighs.

“Yeah, it is,” he agrees. “I just don’t have a simple answer.”

“Louis,” Eleanor mumbles, tears welling up in her beautiful brown eyes. “What are you saying?”

“I need a break,” he blurts out. “I feel like we’re moving too quickly, and it’s just- ever since _The X Factor_ , my entire life has been on fast forward, and I need to slow down. I don’t want you to think I’m leaving you, I just-”

“I don’t think you’re leaving, I think you’re running,” Eleanor butts in. “But, what I can’t figure out is, are you running towards something you want? Or are you running away from something you’re _afraid_ to want?”

Louis’ mouth falls open. “I- what- _huh_?”

“I’m not stupid,” Eleanor informs him, smiling wryly. “I see the way Harry looks at you, and I see the way he looks at _me_. Or rather, doesn’t look at me, considering he spends the majority of the time we’re in each other’s presence pretending that I don’t exist,” she amends, and Louis frowns, because- Oh. Well, he use to just think Harry was a bit of a dick when it came to Eleanor, but, well. His attitude makes sense now. 

“I’m scared,” he finally admits. “I didn’t realise there was anything else other than friendship between Harry and I, until-” he breaks off, and stares down at his lap, confused.

“Until what?” Eleanor asks. Louis is silent for a beat too long. “Until _what_?” Eleanor snaps. “Did something happen between you two? Because I swear to God Louis, if you cheated on me-”

“No, no I didn’t _cheat_ on you, God El, I’m actually _not_ a horrible person,” he snaps, and Eleanor blushes.

“Sorry,” she grits out. “What made you see that there’s something there then?” she asks, and Louis sighs.

“My- my sister; Lily,” he says softly. “She just sort of- helped me to realise, what- what I’ve been missing, I guess.”

“Which was Harry,” Eleanor says, and Louis nods in agreement. “I thought you already knew,” she tells him, and Louis’ eye bug out.

“ _What_?” he snaps, and Eleanor smiles ever so slightly.

“It’s pretty obvious that he likes you Lou. Maybe even loves you,” she informs him.  “At least, it’s been obvious since I met you, and from the way the other boys barely tolerate me- except for Liam, the sweetheart that he is- it’s clear that it’s obvious to them, as well.”

“Did everybody know about this before me?” he questions, glaring at Eleanor when she tries to hide a breathy giggle under a cough.

“Kind of,” she shrugs.

“Well- didn’t it bother you then?” Louis asks, and Eleanor shrugs again.

“I thought you knew, but I didn’t believe you reciprocated his feelings,” she explains. “Well, until I went on Tumblr, and read through the _Larry Stylinson_ tag. That sort of threw me for a while. I honestly thought that maybe you two were sleeping together behind my back.”

“And you didn’t _care enough_ to bring it up with me?”

“I love you,” she answers. “I trusted you, and I realised I was being stupid- thinking you’d ever cheat on me. I came to the conclusion that Harry had feelings for you, and- and I swear you didn’t care because we were in love.”

“I need a break,” he breathes out, and Eleanor nods.

“I figured as much,” see said stiffly. Louis sighs, and stands up, leaning down to press a brief kiss to her head.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers into her hair.  Eleanor doesn’t reply as Louis makes his way to her door.

“Louis,” she calls out, just as his hand connects with the door handle. He swirls around and stares at his girlfriend.

“Yeah?”

Eleanor studies his face for a moment, before sighing. “Don’t come back until you can answer your own question,” she tells him, before standing up and walking to her bedroom, leaving Louis alone.

(And it’s usually him leaving her, so isn’t this ironic?)

*

“So, what was your original plan?” Niall questions Lily, who’s brushing her hair. Lily frowns slightly, and stares up at him.

“Huh?”

“You said before we hid, in the studios, that you were gonna freak Harry and Lou out, somehow, and they’d do whatever you wanted,” Niall explains. “How’d you plan to do that?”

Lily giggles, and lowers her voice, aware that she was still in Harry and Louis’ apartment, and that Harry could pop in to her room at any moment now. “They get very scared when they think I’ve gone missing,” she explains. “It doesn’t work on them now- in the future, I mean- but I thought I could use it now. I just had to pretend I was lost or something, and then when they found me, use the puppy dog eyes. It’s a sure thing, usually.”

Niall laughs along with her. “Got that trick from Harry then?”

Lily tilts her head. “Yeah,” she agrees, studying Niall’s face for a moment, before- “You know, don’t you.” she asks, though it’s more of a statement.

“Know what?” Niall questions.

“Who my other parent is,” Lily elaborates, and Niall grins.

“Course,” he nods.  “I thought everyone did, at first. But apparently, _One Direction_ is made up of idiots, so. Liam had his suspicions though, but when I tried to tell him he was right, he thought we were all just playing a prank on him. Twat that he is,” he swears, good naturedly.

“Daddy knows,” Lily tells him, smiling sadly. “He saw me singing- I ran away from you, because I thought I’d be more convincing if you all thought I was lost, and then I saw the piano, and I hadn’t played it, or sung properly since I’ve been here. It’s only been a few days, but music is my life, and I missed it.”

“That makes sense- considering who your parents are,” Niall mumbles, and Lily smiles.

“I look a lot like Dad- Harry, I mean- when I sing, I suppose. I mean, I have Daddy’s voice, but Dad’s like- stage presence, I suppose. Daddy knew right away…” she stares down at her small hands, frowning.

“Harry knows as well, you know that right?” Niall tells her, smiling sadly. “Not properly, but on some level, I can tell he does.”

“I know. It’s weird though,” Lily starts. “I miss them. My real parents, I mean. I have Harry and Louis, but they aren’t my Dad’s, not really. And you guys are different as well- you aren’t the Uncle’s I grew up with. Is that weird?”

Niall moves onto Lily’s bed, and wraps an arm around her. “Of course not sweetie. That’s completely normal. Haz and Lou aren’t the guys you know, not now. Louis is still an idiot who thinks he’s _straight_ and in love with _Eleanor_ , of all people, and Harry- well, Harry knows he’s in love with Louis, but is too stupid to say anything. I’m sure your _real_ parents are _much_ smarter.”

Lily laughs quietly. “You’d be surprised,” she jokes, and Niall laughs.

“Are the future Harry and Louis worried about you, do you think? Or did you tell them you were coming here?” he asks, the question only just occurring to him.

“Oh, God no. Dad would have never let me go, worrywart that he is, and Daddy- well, he would have encouraged me, actually, because he loves causing trouble, but still. I left a note though, explaining everything, so they shouldn’t worry much. That won’t stop them though, not really,” she notes, and Niall smiles. “I just hope they forgive me,” she muses, biting her lower lip.

“Hey, don’t be silly Lily,” he tells her, grinning when she pokes her tongue out at the stupid rhyme. “Of course they’ll forgive you; you’re their _daughter_. And on top of that, you’re the one who helped them realise they need to be together, so- I’d say they owe you one.”

Lily smiles up at Niall, all traces of sadness gone. “Thank you,” she tells him, snuggling further into his arms. “You always were my favourite,” she adds, and Niall beams.

“Damn straight,” he agrees, causing Lily to giggle.

*

When Louis leaves Eleanor’s, he’s not exactly sure what to do with himself. He can’t go home- not with Lily and Harry there. He’s not in the mood to play happy family with his future family, apparently. Niall’s with Harry, so that rules him out. He briefly considers going to see Liam, but just as quickly decides against it. Liam will make him talk about things, like his _feelings_ , and really, fuck that.

So somehow, by process of elimination, Louis ends up in front of Zayn’s door, looking absolutely fucked.

“You need to get drunk,” Zayn tells him, the second he sees him. Louis nods, and follows Zayn inside.

“I really, _really_ do,” he agrees, waving at Perrie who’s sitting on the couch, watching something on the telly.

“Hey Lou,” she chirps, and Louis musters up a smile.

“Hey Perrie,” he responds, before heading straight to the kitchen, and then straight to the cupboard where he knows Zayn keeps the alcohol. By the time Zayn’s joined him, Louis has already downed three shots of- Vodka, he thinks. He glances at the bottle, and nods. “Vodka,” he announces to Zayn, who nods, and takes the bottle from Louis, taking a sip.

“Vodka,” Zayn agrees, and Louis smiles.

*

“It’s not like I don’t love Harry, because of course I love Harry,” Louis blubbers, taking a break to take another shot of- tequila, this time. Maybe. He can’t taste the difference, and his eyes are a bit too watery to fully make out the label, so. “But I never thought I would _marry_ the guy. He’s a _guy_ Zayn, like with a real _penis_!”

Zayn nods wisely, and takes the bottle from Louis’ hand, and places it on the floor. He gives Perrie a look, like _what the fuck am I supposed to say here, I don’t even know what the hell is going on_.

“Lou, love, I don’t know what’s happened,” Perrie starts off, speaking slowly, as though talking to a child. “But you have to calm down, alright? This isn’t helping anyone.”

“It’s helping me,” Louis protests, but sighs and nods all the same. “What do I do?”

“Talk to Harry,” Perrie tells him. “Again, I don’t know what the hell is going on, but- I’ve been with Zayn for ages now, and I’ve been around you and Harry for the same. You two are forever, alright? You’ll work through this.”

Louis blinks at her. “Does everybody know?” he spits out, as Zayn shoots his girlfriend a questioning look.

“I don’t,” he pipes up. “I know absolutely nothing, apparently.”

Louis rolls his eyes. “Me and Harry are in love, haven’t you heard? We’re going to have gay sex and then get gay married and then have gay children. Because apparently, I’m a queer now. Didn’t you know?”

Perrie glares at Louis. “Don’t be an idiot Lou, because I am not above hitting you,” she threatens, and Louis blushes.

“Sorry,” he mumbles sheepishly, before standing up. Sort of. His head is swimming, a bit. “I should go home,” Louis announces, and Zayn shakes his head.

“Do you really want to be around Lily at the moment Lou? She’s your- um, your sister and she doesn’t really need to see you like this,” he says, glancing at Perrie.

“I’ll call Niall,” Perrie offers. “I’d say that he could stay here, but I kind of had plans for you, so.”

“Was the room always so- movey?” Louis questions, trying to steady himself.

“Call him,” Zayn says, before helping Louis steady himself. “And no, it’s not moving Louis. That’s just your drunkenness talking,” Zayn says, catching Louis just before he falls.

“Oh,” Louis says, blinking in rapid succession. “That makes sense, I guess. Rooms don’t move, do they?” he questions, staring up at Zayn with wide, curious eyes.

“No mate, they don’t,” Zayn reassures him. “Niall?” he asks Perrie, who’s just hanging up.

“On his way,” Perrie confirms, grinning. “He’ll look after you, don’t worry.”

“Hey, I love that song,” Louis tells them both, grinning now. “I sung it on youtube once, remember? I sounded shit,” he says, sighing. “I don’t sound shit now. Well, I don’t think. Do I sound shit?” he asks, directing his question at Perrie, who smiles softly.

“Course not Lou, you never did,” she says comfortingly, before frowning. “Though, your breath smells like shit. I hope Niall has an extra toothbrush, because you’ll need it.”

Louis frowns. “That’s mean. Your girlfriend’s mean,” he notifies Zayn, who just laughs.

“I know Lou,” he agrees, sighing in relief when there’s a loud knock and the door. “Can you get that?” he asks Perrie. “I would, only I think Lou needs my help standing up.”

Perrie nods, and Louis beams at Zayn. “I do!” he agrees happily. “I _do_ need your help Zayn, how’d you know?”

Zayn rolls his eyes, but smiles back at his friend. “Because you’re barley standing here, and I’m doing all the heavy lifting.”

“Take that back Malik!” Louis demands, frowning at Zayn. “I am not _heavy_ and I resent that you implied that I was!”

Zayn rolls his eyes- _again_ , and laughs when he sees Niall walk into the room, Perrie trailing behind. “He’s your problem now mate,” Zayn gleefully informs Niall, who just grins, and lets Louis swing an arm around his shoulder to help steady himself.

“Niall!” Louis cries, smiling at the blonde boy. “Zayn is being _mean_ ,” he tells him, and Niall nods.

“That’s why we’re gonna leave him here, all alone okay?” Niall say, and Louis blinks, mulling it over.

“Good,” he finally says, nodding his head. “Ouch, that hurts,” he complains, and Niall chuckles.

“Why is it that English people can’t handle their liquor?” Niall questions Zayn, who just shrugs.

“Hey, speak for yourself. I’m perfectly capable of drinking without turning into an idiot, thank you very much,” Perrie interrupts, and Niall laughs.

“Yeah, but you’re, well- you’re _Perrie_ , it doesn’t count,” he tells her, grinning when she glares.

“Niall?” Louis coos softly, tugging on Niall’s ear to get his attention. “I’m tired,” he proclaims, an Niall laughs again.

“We better get you to bed then, shouldn’t we?” he suggests, and Louis smiles sleepily.

“Would you tell Lily- and H-Harry?” he asks, as they leave Zayn’s apartment, Niall nodding in his direction. “Only, I don’t want Harry to worry. He’s a worrier, that one.”

“Was with them before I came and got you,” Niall tells him, walking down the hall and into the elevator to his apartment, pressing the _up_ button. “Harry was still a bit worried, but. He’s fine, now he knows you’re with me. Lily says to tell you _goodnight_ , and that you better shower before coming to see her, on account of she doesn’t like the smell of alcohol.”

Louis frowns . “I don’t want Harry to worry. Tell him not to worry,” he commands, shoving his finger into Niall’s side.

“Oi, stop that, you know I’m well ticklish,” Niall chides him, and Louis sighs. “I’ll text him, okay? But first, let’s get you into bed, alright?”

Louis nods slowly, and is silent as they leave the elevator, and head into Niall’s apartment. Niall leads Louis into his spare room, and even goes as far as to tuck his friend into bed. “Thank you,” Louis mumbles, and when Niall looks at him, he seems about a million years older, and younger all at once.

“Night Lou,” Niall says quietly, slipping out of the room, and shutting the door quietly behind him. “What a mess,” he mumbles to himself, before sending out the promised text to Harry, and climbing into bed himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/slytherinlarry_) and [tumblr](http://slytherin-larrie.tumblr.com).


	6. Chapter 6

_Louis didn’t know where he was. He was in a playground, he could see that much, at least, but he had no idea_ where _it was, or why he was there. He walked around, watching all the children playing, and smiling softly at the feel of the soft grass on his bare feet._

_Louis suddenly heard two familiar laughs. One from a man and the other from a little girl. He turned his head to where the sound came from, and found himself looking at a swing set, where a man with curly brown hair was pushing a little girl on the swings. The little girl had light brown hair, and looked no more than three years old. Louis took a few steps closer to the pair, unable to help himself. As he got closer, he recognised the little girl immediately. It was Lily- even at this young age she bore a striking resemblance to him. Which must been the man was…_

_The man turned around, and Louis got a chance to look at his face. He was right. It was Harry, looking as gorgeous as ever. His green eyes were sparkling, and he was grinning widely, his smile identical to Lily’s. Louis had never seen Harry look so happy, and he couldn’t help but smile in return._

_After a while, Harry stopped pushing their daughter, and Lily’s swing slowed down. A man came up behind Harry and hugged him from behind, causing Harry to let out a surprised squeal._

_“Lou!” Harry exclaimed. Louis watched with fascination as he- his older self laughed, and kissed Harry softly on the cheek. “I told you, you’ve got to stop scaring me like that,” Harry pouted, and Louis- the older Louis-  laughed._

_“Sorry, couldn’t help myself,” the older Louis grinned. “How is my beautiful little girl?” he asked, as he bent down and kissed a grinning Lily on the forehead._

_“Good,” Lily giggles. “We went shopping with Dani and Liam today!” she informs Louis._

_“That sounds fun!” older Louis exclaimed, smiling happily. And- oh. Louis had never seen_ himself _look this happy either._

_“How was your day?” Harry questions Louis, smiling fondly._

_“Good,” Louis shrugs. “The youngest girl in my category- Lisa- she’s a right handful. Got the voice of an angel, but I’m starting to regret picking her. She’s about ten times more annoying than we were back then. And there’s only_ one _of her!” Louis complains, and Harry laughs._

_“I doubt that,” he says, rolling his eyes.  “We were horrible little monsters,” he says, grinning when Lily giggles._

_“I’m a monster too!” she squeals, holding her hands up to older Louis, who picks her up. Lily promptly bites down on his hand, and growls._

_“You’re a naughty little monster, is what you are,” Louis scolds, prying her little teeth off his arm. He swirls her around so she’s sitting on his shoulders, giggling like a mad woman._

_“Be careful,” Harry warns, chewing on his lower lip anxiously._

_“Always am,” Louis responded._

_“By the way, Zayn and Perrie are gonna drop of Tyler tomorrow afternoon,” Harry informs him, grinning._

_“Ugh, really? Well, remind me to get the rope out.”_

_“Louis!” Harry reprimands._

_“What? I don’t want another black eye from that twerp. I’m telling you, he’s a bad influence on Lily. He’s evil, I swear it,” Louis says, and Harry rolls his eyes._

_“He’s_ four _, you idiot, he isn’t_ evil _.”_

_“Is so,” older Louis pouts. “Who knows what kind of trouble he’ll get our kid into when he’s older?”_

_Louis- present day Louis- grinned. That explained why Lily was so tricky._

_“Oh, don’t be dramatic,” Harry replied._

_“You’re calling_ me _dramatic?” Louis asked, chuckling._

_Harry glared at Louis, and then smiled widely. “Are you quite fond of our couch Lou?” The older Louis’ eyes widened, and he shook his head quickly._

_“Let’s pretend I didn’t say anything,” he suggests, and Harry laughs, reaching up to tickle Lily, and kissing older-Louis on the cheek. “I love you,” Louis whispers as Lily giggles loudly._

_Harry’s smile was fond. “It’s time to wake up.”_

_“What?” Louis, and the older Louis asked, identical (with the exception of a few wrinkles) looks on their faces._

_“It’s time to wake up,” Harry repeats, his voice suddenly taking on an Irish accent._

Louis gasped, and woke with a start. He looked around him, and realised he was in Niall’s guest bedroom, with Niall himself sitting on top on him, grinning. Louis tried to sit up, and push the blonde boy off him, but his head was pounding. He lay back down, put a hand to his face and groaned.

_What the hell was that?_

*

“And then Harry told me to wake up, except it wasn’t really Harry, it was you,” Louis finished off, taking a big bite of his bacon and egg sandwich.

“Do you think it was like- a vision into the future?” Niall questions, tilting his head to the side.

Louis shrugs. “God, I _hope_ not. Man- you didn’t see it. I was fucking _whipped_. By bloody _Harry Styles_ , of all people.”

“Louis, in case you didn’t notice, you’re kind of already whipped by Harry,” Niall says, and Louis blushes.

“Am not,” he argues childishly.

“Are so,” Niall argues back, just as childishly.

“Am not,” Louis repeats. “He just- has these _eyes_ Niall, and- it’s not _my_ fault.” Niall just laughs in response, and Louis sighs. “What am I gonna do?” Louis whines.

“You’re gonna break up with Eleanor, and ask Harry out on a date,” Niall informs him. Louis raises an eyebrow.

“Oh, am I now?” he asks sarcastically.

“Yes, you are,” Niall tells him. “I already know that’s what Lily told you to do, so.”

“That’s not fair,” Louis pouts.  “You two can’t gang up on me. I demand a-”

“Louis?” Niall interrupts.

Louis frowns at him. “Yes Niall?”

“Shut up.”

*

After showering at Niall’s, Louis dresses in some clothes Niall’s laid out for him. Louis thinks the jumper was originally Liam’s, which means Niall probably stole it from Zayn. Oh well, it’d find its way back to him, eventually. Louis pads out into the lounge room, bare foot, and stares at Niall.

“Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to spend the day with my future husband and daughter,” Louis says, sighing as he opens Niall’s door.

“Have fun! Don’t forget to ask your future husband out on date!” Niall calls out, and Louis can hear the smug grin he’s probably sporting.

“Tosser,” he mumbles, slamming Niall’s door.

He spends the entire ride in the elevator (a whole twenty three seconds) thinking about the future- about _his_ future, which is apparently his and Harry’s future. He honestly has never been this confused in his entire life, even during a math test. And math confused Louis a _lot_.

When he reaches his and Harry’s own apartment, he stands in front of the door for about three minutes, before finally remembering he doesn’t have his key on him.

“Bugger,” Louis mumbles to himself, knocking on the door as quietly as possible. His head hurts still.

When the door is opened, Louis is expecting to see Harry’s face, but instead Lily’s standing there, hand on hip, glaring at him, and- yeah. She’s _definitely_ Harry’s daughter.

“You’re just as stupid as Dad says you were back then. Now, I mean,” Lily tells him.

Louis runs his hand through his hair. It’s early and the lights are really bright and he’s still a bit drunk, he thinks. “I know,” he admits, and Lily sighs.

“Lily, I _told_ you not to open the door while I was in the shower!” Harry’s voice calls out. Louis steps inside and Harry’s face goes from confused to really fucking happy in about .3 seconds. He’s also only wearing a fluffy white towel, slung low on his waist, and Louis’ heart is doing that _thing_ where it beats too fast again. He hates it.

“It’s just Dad though, honestly,” Lily says, rolling her eyes. “I’m not a _child,_ I actually _do_ know how to open a door all by myself.”

“You’re _nine_ ,” Harry and Louis tell her, at the same time. Harry looks up, and beams at Louis, who just rubs his temples, while _not_ staring at Harry’s chest. Not at _all_.

“I need some aspirin,” Louis informs them, and Harry nods, and hitches his towel up further, presses his lips together, and heads into the kitchen.

“ _Daddy_ ,” Lily whines, and Louis stops staring at the spot where Harry was only moments ago, and turns to look at his daughter, tugging on his sleeve to get his attention. “God, can you not be a twat, for two seconds maybe? Seriously, that’s all I’m asking for here.”

“Language,” Louis reminds her, still off in his own little world.

“Daddy,” Lily snaps. “I’m _serious_ here, because time is running out, and from everything you and Dad have told me, you two should be going on your first ‘date that isn’t really a date because neither of you will admit it but it is actually a date, really’ very soon, so you need to get your act together.”

Louis stares down at his daughter, mouth hanging open. “What?” he questions, and Lily huffs in frustration.

“Ask Dad out!” she snaps, before storming off into her bedroom. Harry chooses that moment to pad back into the lounge room, aspirin and a glass on water in his hand.

“Um. Everything okay?” he questions, and Louis nods wearily, and finally steps inside, shutting the door behind him.

“She’s just in a bad mood,” Louis mumbles, offering Harry a small smile when he hands him the two white tablets and glass of cold, _cold_ water. Louis loves Harry, in that moment. “Thanks,” he tells him, putting the pills on his tongue and swallowing them with a sip of water to wash them down.

“It’s okay,” Harry says, smiling down at him. “You alright? Besides the obvious hangover, I mean.”

“Yeah. Just- I don’t know. I have a time travelling daughter and all. It’s a bit much for anyone to handle, really,” Louis shrugs. Harry takes a steep closer, but then seems to think better of it, and stops, hands dropping awkwardly to his sides.

“Right,” he mutters. “I’m gonna go and- get dressed,” he says, and Louis nods, biting his lip. Harry sighs, and turns to walk off to his bedroom.

“Wait, Harry,” Louis calls out. Harry whirls around, and stares at Louis, who’s having a bit of trouble speaking actual words.

“Yes?” Harry prompts after Louis attempts to speak a few times.

“I just,” Louis starts off. “Movies,” he announces, and, oh, he’s an idiot. 

“Movies?” Harry repeats, crinkling his nose, and he looks so much like Lily then, which is what gives Louis the courage to say, “Yes, movies. Would you like to go see a movie with me tonight, maybe?”

Harry absolutely fucking _beams_ , and Louis swears that his heart actually skips a beat. “Yeah, yeah, I’d _love_ that,” Harry says, smiling at him. Louis blushes a bright red, and suddenly doesn’t feel so brave.

“It’ll have to be a kids one, for Lily,” he blurts out, and Harry’s smile dims a bit.

“Lily?” he repeats, unsurely.

Louis nods. “Yeah. Can’t really leave her alone now, can we?”

Harry nods, his smile clearly forced, and Louis feels like shit, and it’s not the hangover, not now.  “Right,” he mumbles, before turning and walking quickly out of the room. The second his door closes behind him, Louis sinks to the floor, head in hands.

“You _completely_ screwed that up,” a voice says, as Lily’s head pops through the door of her room.

Louis groans. “I know,” he agrees. Lily sighs, and pads over and sits down next to him.

“It’ll all work out in the end,” she promises. “And at least if I’m coming tonight, I can maybe try to make sure you don’t say anything stupid.”

Louis smiles weakly. “Oh god, _what am I going to wear_?” he says, standing up and looking at Lily frantically.

“Then again,” Lily says, standing up as well, brushing the dirt off her pajama pants. “Everything that comes out of your mouth is stupid. I can’t really help that.”

Louis just stares at her, close to tears, and Lily sighs, slipping her small hand in his. “Come on,” she says, dragging him to his bedroom. “Just so you know, if you so much as _think_ about wearing anything red, or stripy, I will make sure that you’re unable to have any more children when I get back to my own time,” she threatens, flinging his closet doors open.

Louis gulps.

*

“Are you sure I look okay?” he asks, for probably the twenty fifth time. Lily groans, and nods her head.

“You look fine, stop acting like a twelve year old girl going on her first date,” she instructs. “Honestly, you’ve been out with Dad about a billion times, why are you freaking out?”

“Because those other billion times, I wasn’t thinking about _kissing_ him,” Louis snaps. Lily grins, and claps her hands together.

“You want to kiss him?” she squeals, and Louis is the one who groans this time.

“No, not at all,” he lies, but he’s not even convincing him _self_ , let alone _Lily_ , who seems overjoyed at this new piece of information. “Are you sure I don’t look stupid?” he asks again, and Lily rolls her eyes.

“Your bum looks fine in those jeans- probably, I mean. I don’t think bums are very attractive, really. I mean, that’s where _poo_ comes from,” Lily says, a disgusted look on her face. Louis stifles a laugh. “And your pretty, and I know Dad says that blue looks the best on you, on account of your eyes,” Lily continues.

“Harry said that?” Louis whispers, and Lily nods.

“Sure did,” she confirms. “No, can I please go get dressed? I’d like to look nice for this date too,” she says, and Louis smiles.

“Sure honey,” he says, and she hops off his bed and runs down the hallway to her own room. Louis looks himself over in the mirror again, before sighing. He’d tried on every piece of clothing he owned, and this outfit was the only one that he and Lily had agreed on. “Ugh, I _am_ a twelve year old girl,” he mutters, disgusted with himself. After making sure his hair is perfect- well, as perfect as he can get it, considering his hair is being rather stubborn today- he pockets his wallet and phone, and heads into the lounge room, to wait for Harry and Lily to finish getting ready. While he’s waiting, he pulls his phone back out of his pocket and scrolls through Twitter. After seeing a few tweets about how distant he and Harry had been lately, he decides to tweet about their ‘date.’

_@louis_tomlinson: movie night with @harry_styles and lily!!! #wreckitralph_

Instantly, replies start pouring in. Most of them are versions of ‘louis follow me!’ which he ignores, and a lot of the rest contain the hash tag ‘larry,’ over and over. The rest of them are people sobbing and clearly just smashing their heads on the keyboard. Louis sighs. He used to get very fucking annoyed at the people who honestly believe he and Harry were _actually_ gay, especially the ones who tweeted hateful things to Eleanor. But now- they were fucking _right_ , all along, and he was a complete and utter douche to them.

“Ugh,” he grumbles.

“You okay?” Harry’s voice questions from the doorway, and Louis looks up from his phone, and found himself staring at-

 _Perfection_. That was literally the only word to describe Harry right now.

“I- uh- Twitter,” is all Louis manages to get out, before promptly clamping his lips together, in fear he’d say something stupid. Lily may be a bit of a brat, but she was right, when she said he often said stupid things.

“Are they saying mean things again?” Harry questions, plopping down next to him on the couch. Louis shakes his head.

“No, nice things, actually. I just sort of feel a bit shit about the whole ‘bullshit’ thing,” he explains, avoiding Harry’s eyes. Harry nods, a confused look on his face.

“Oh? Why now, exactly?” he asks, and it’s a perfectly reasonable question, but Louis doesn’t have a perfectly reasonable answer, unless ‘ _because I just found out that we’re married in the future, with a kid, which probably means I’m at least a little bit gay, and ‘Larry’ isn’t entirely bullshit_ ,’ counts. He thinks it doesn’t, though, so he sort of just shrugs his shoulders, and mumbles something completely unintelligible, to even him.

“Right,” Harry agrees, like Louis said something that makes perfect sense. Then again, he’s _Harry_ and he knows Louis better than Louis knows himself, almost, so it probably _did_ make sense to him. “You look- nice,” Harry compliments, and a smile spreads across Louis’ face unwillingly.

“Thank you,” he replies. “So do you.” And Harry does, is the thing. Logically, Louis knows that Harry’s probably the most attractive out of all the boys, if you listen to what the fans have to say. But the thing is, Harry is kind of- pretty. His legs look good in his black skinny jeans, in a way that Louis could never hope for himself, and his white v-neck shirt kind of hugs his body perfectly. Ugh, and his stupid perfect face.

“Lily still getting ready?” Harry asks, looking towards her bedroom, and Louis nods.

“Yeah. She should be done by now though, probably. Maybe I should go check on her,” he muses, and Harry laughs.

“Um. No need to Lou,” he says, and Louis looks up, and laughs loudly when he spots Lily. She’s wearing the One Direction onesie that Harry brought her, and she looks- completely adorable, if Louis is honest. And entirely too much like himself and Harry, with her curly hair in a complete mess. “I feel overdressed,” Harry comments, and Louis nods in agreement.

“I was hoping you’d feel that way,” Lily says with a wicked grin on her face. Louis is already dreading whatever it is she’s planning.

*

“I hate you,” he tells her. “I mean it Lily, you are _dead_ to me.”

Lily just laughs gleefully, and the braids Louis gave her in the car swish from side to side. “You look lovely Daddy,” she praises, and Harry laughs.

“You do,” Harry agrees. “And at least yours fits good. Mine’s a bit small, since I last wore it,” he complains.

“It’s not my fault I stopped growing when a _normal_ person does, and you just kept at it,” Louis shoots back, pulling his sleeves up.

“I am a perfectly normal height, thank you very much,” Harry responds, and Lily laughs again.

“You both look lovely,” she tells them, and the shit eating grin still hasn’t disappeared from her face since she convinced them both to put their old onesies on, _so we can look like a family, please guys?_ is still present. Louis hates that she inherited Harry’s puppy dog eyes. 

“Damn straight we do,” Louis tells her, winking. Harry picks Lily up, and swings her onto his back, and she wraps his arms around his neck.

“I look the best though,” Lily informs them, smiling angelically. Louis’ eyes soften as he looks at his daughter.

“Of course,” Harry replies, at the same time Louis says, “We know.”

“I would like popcorn, and some chocolate please,” Lily requests, after they’ve gotten the tickets and have made their way to the buy some snacks.

“Oh, me too,” Harry pipes up, smiling at Louis, who sighs. With that fucking smile, it’s no wonder he’s whipped in the future. And now, a little bit.

“Anything else?” he asks sarcastically. Harry laughs, but Lily nods in earnest.

“Drinks!” she demands, and Harry nods in agreement.

“Drinks,” Louis repeats. After getting a large popcorn, and the chocolate Lily demanded, they head over to the drinks counter.

“Can we get a large coke, a large raspberry, and a medium mix of both?” she orders. Harry and Louis look at her, and she bites her lips. “Do you not like those drinks now?” she asks.

“No- I quite like coke,” Louis tells her.

“And I still like raspberry,” Harry adds. The teenage boy at the counter sighs at them, before going and making the drinks.

“Why are you looking at me funny?” Lily says, squirming on Harry’s back.

“Just surprised you knew my order, I guess,” Harry shrugs.

“We go to the movies a lot,” Lily tells him. “You always get raspberry and Daddy gets coke, and I never decided which one I liked better, so I mixed them up,” she explains. “It’s a very good mix,” she adds, and Louis bites the inside of his lip to keep from screaming. She’s literally the perfect mix of him and Harry. She’s actually their fucking _daughter_ , and they take her out to the movies, and she knows their drink order, and- god.

“That’ll be eighteen pounds,” the spotty teenage boy says, handing two of the drinks to Harry, while Lily grab the other one. Louis nods, and pulls out his wallet and hands the boy a twenty.

“Keep the change,” he mumbles, and the guy smiles at him gratefully.

“I need to pee,” Lily announces loudly, catching the attention of two teenage girls, one of who starts whimpering when she sees Harry and Louis.

“We’ve been spotted,” Harry mumbles to Louis, who nods.

“Let’s take her to the bathroom, and then get in the theatre. It’s dark in there, hopefully nobody will notice us,” he suggests. Harry nods, and the find a bathroom quickly. Neither of them particular want to let Lily go in alone, but they don’t really have another choice, so they wait patiently outside.

The blonde girl who saw them before comes up to them, hands shaking.  “Can I please have a photo?” she whispers. Harry smiles, and nods his head.

“Of course sweetheart,” he says, wrapping an arm around her and smiling while her friend takes the photo. The blonde girl is shaking less by the time she turns to Louis.

“Can I get one with you too?” she questions. Louis smiles, and poses for the photo, and looks at her friend, a small brunette.

“Would you like a photo love?” he questions, and the girl bites her lip, and nods, handing the phone to her friend.

“Can I get one with both of you in it?” she questions, and Louis looks at Harry, who shrugs. They both nod, and stand on either side of her, each wrapping an arm around her waist. Harry’s hand lands on top of Louis’, and he squeezes it, and the both smile happily as the blonde girl takes the photo, and there’s a flash.

“Thank you so much,” the girls chorus, before hugging them and running off, squealing.

“I can’t leave you alone for _two seconds_ without you getting mobbed, can I?” she sighs, and the boys smile, taking one of her hands each.

“That was two girls, hardly a _mob_ ,” Harry snorts, and Lily sighs.

“When they post the photos on Twitter, it’ll be a mob,” she says, and Louis winces.

“I didn’t think of that,” he says, and Harry frowns, as if to say _me either_.

“It’s okay, I’m used to it,” Lily shrugs. “We’ll deal with it _after_ the movie.” The boys nod, and head off to the cinema that their movie’s playing in.

*

Louis is about 89% sure that Harry is trying to kill him. The boys weren’t even sitting _next_ to each other, because Lily had claimed the spot in the middle of them, but Harry seemed to be touching Louis every three seconds anyway. If Louis reached for a handful of thee popcorn that was in Lily’s lap, his hand would knock Harry’s. When Harry stretched, his arm ended up dangling near Louis’ shoulder. When Lily decided that the seat was uncomfortable, and could she please lie down on them, Harry’s feet ended up nudged against Louis’.

Harry was evil, he was positive.

Except- it was kind of nice, actually. Then the movie ended, and Louis couldn’t bear to meet Harry’s eyes as they left the theater, Lily rambling on about her favourite parts of the movie, and why she liked the movies _now_ better than the ones in the future.

“I need to go to the toilet again,” Lily interrupted herself as the passed the bathroom. She disappeared inside it quickly, and Harry stared at Louis, who pointedly does _not_ stare back (except for the part where he _did_ ).

 “This was nice,” Harry comments, voice soft, and gravelly after not speaking for two hours. “I mean- the movie was a bit stupid, but Lily enjoyed it, so. Nice,” he repeats, and despite himself, a grin spreads across Louis’ face.

“I’m glad you had fun,” he says. Harry smiles at him again, and Louis feels like he’s going to vomit. “I broke things off with Eleanor,” he blurts out. Oh. Only word vomit then. That’s- good, he supposes. Better than actual vomit, and all.

“What?” Harry responds, crinkling his nose. “You- broke up with Eleanor?”

Louis sighs. “Well, we’re on a break, anyway. But. Once the breaks over, I’m ending it, properly. I think,” he’s rambling now.  “It’s just- she’s not Lily’s mum, is she? Which means she’s not like- my soul mate, or anything.”

“That’s- I’m sorry, mate,” Harry says, still looking confused, but- slightly happier. Lily chooses that moment to come out of the bathroom, smiling happily up at her parents.

“I’m back,” she informs them, slipping a wet hand in Louis’.

“Your hand is wet Lily,” Harry tells her, and Louis looks down to see that Lily is holding Harry’s hand with her other one.

“I know,” she shrugs. “Can we go home? I’m tired.” The boys both nod, and head off to the exit, before-

“Oh god, cameras,” Louis whines when he sees them. There’s about four men with camera’s outside, and about thirty teenage girls, and Louis knows that this isn’t just a coincidence.  “What do we do?” he asks Harry, who’s lifting Lily up into his arms.

“We get outside, smile at everyone, and get to the car as quickly as we can,” Harry says calmly. “I’m not letting Lily get attacked or anything, and you _know_ the paparazzi guys will try and get a rise out of us by saying shit to her, cause they’ve done it with your _actual_ sisters before.”

Louis nods, and they walk quickly out of the door, keeping their heads down. “Harry, over here, Harry!” one girl screams. Another one calls out Louis’ name, and then they’re all yelling things.

“Please, can’t we just have a photo?” one girl calls out, and Louis turns to look at them.

“Sorry guys- we’ve got my sister here, and she’s only young, and super tired, so we’ve gotta go,” he tells them. The paparazzi are calling out stuff, and they aren’t as respectful of their boundaries as the fans are.

“Are you sure that’s actually your sister, and not just a scam to get your money?” one guy calls out. Louis laughs at him, while Harry and Lily stand silently next to him.

“Positive, mate, but thanks for your concern,” he responds.

The next guy isn’t so kind.  “She looks more like his kid, doesn’t she?” he says to another guy. “Course, since he’s with curly over there, it can’t be true.”

Louis blinks, and sees red. “Louis, come on, let’s go, it’s okay, let’s just get out of here,” Harry whispers in his ear, as Lily pulls on his sleeve, eyes wide with fear.

“Shut up,” Louis warns him.

“Aw, are you upset? Did we hurt your boyfriends _feelings_?” the guy says, and Louis has never wanted to hit anybody more in his entire _life_.

“He said shut up,” Harry says, holding tighter on to Lily. “Louis, we’re going, okay, _come on_ ,” Harry says, and Louis nods, and turns away from the guy. Harry grabs his arm as they walk quickly away from the crowd to Harry’s car, parked a few spots down the street.

When Louis goes on Twitter after, and sees the videos, and the pictures, it looks like their holding hands.

*

When they get home, they all pile into Harry’s bed and watch _Simpsons_ re-runs until Lily starts yawning. She falls asleep halfway through an episode, and Louis runs his fingers through her hair as her breathing evens out.

Harry looks up from his phone. “Do you want to take her back to her bed?” he whispers, and Louis shakes his head.

“Can she stay here? Only, I don’t want to move her,” he whispers back. Harry nods.

“Sure,” he agrees. “You can stay too, if you want,” he says, sliding further down under his covers. Louis bites his lip, and nods.

“Sure,” he says. Harry smiles at him, and continues scrolling through Twitter. “Anything interesting?” Louis asks, and Harry laughs softly.

“Just photos from tonight,” he says. “It looks like we’re holding hands, see?” he says, tilting his phone to Louis, who smiles softly in return.

“We look cute,” he says.  “In our onesies, and all,” he adds, and Harry grins.

“Like a proper little family,” he says gleefully, and Louis laughs. If only he knew. “Oh- and we’re trending,” Harry adds, handing his phone to Louis.

Worldwide Trends  
louis and harry  
#larryisreal  
lily stylinson  
belieberslovejustin  
#larrydate  
tomlindad  
larry or elounor  
#directionersloveel  
#pink  
harry styles

“We’re like, most of the trends,” Louis comments and Harry grins. 

“Lily Stylinson is my favourite,” he replies, a cheeky grin on his face.

“I think I like ‘tomlindad’ more,” Louis responds, smiling.

“You would,” Harry retorts, before putting his phone on the bedside table, and using a remote to turn the television off. “I’m tired.”

“Me too,” Louis mumbles, snuggling down further.

“Night Lou,” Harry whispers.

“If you steal all the covers tonight, I won’t hesitate to put my cold feet all over you,” Louis warns, and Harry lets out a sleepy laugh, his eyes fluttering shut. “Goodnight Harry,” Louis tells him, but the curly haired boy is already fast asleep.

Louis falls asleep to the sound of Lily’s and Harry’s breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/slytherinlarry_) and [tumblr](http://slytherin-larrie.tumblr.com).


	7. Chapter 7

When Louis wakes up in the morning, he has a lot of hair in his mouth, and a little girl spread all over him. It takes him quite a bit of effort, but he finally manages to pry open his eyes.

“Hi,” Lily says, smiling toothily up at him. Louis blinks at her, and gently pulls her hair out of his mouth.

“Hello,” he returns, and Lily’s grin grows wider. “Your hair tastes gross,” he tells her.

“I probably need to wash it,” Lily agrees, running her fingers through her tangled curls. “You snore very loudly,” she informs him, sighing.

Louis eyes crinkle. “Do I not snore in the future?”

“Your room is soundproof,” Lily notifies him. “So I don’t actually know.”

“Why is my room soundproof?” he questions, and Lily gives him a _look_.

“Well, it’s not just _your_ room, and-”

“Never mind, I don’t want to know,” Louis says, cutting her off while shaking his head and blushing.

“Well, neither did I,” Lily comments, rolling off of him. “So imagine my surprise when I came home early from a sleepover at Uncle Niall’s house, and you and Dad were in your room, and the door wasn’t shut, and-”

“La la la,” Louis sings loudly, putting his hands over his ears. “I _said_ that I don’t want to know.”

Lily rolls her eyes. “Again, _neither did I_.”

Louis blushes again. “How about, now that I know, I can make sure it never happens?”

Lily smiles. “I doubt that. Zayn says that you and Dad are like animals in heat.”

Louis groans, and Lily laughs again. “That’s gross. Harry’s- god, he’s _Harry_ ,” he complains.

“No,” Lily says. “He’s my Dad, and he’s your soul mate.”

Louis sighs. “Speaking of, where is your- um. Where’s Harry?”

“I’m not sure,” Lily shrugs. “I only woke up a few minutes before you. I think he’s in the kitchen though, on account of I heard some banging. I think he’s making us breakfast.”

Louis blinks. “Right. Okay. Should we go help?” he asks, sitting up. Lily pushes him right back down.

“No. Not at _all_.  I’d rather you didn’t kill us all before I’m technically even born, thank you very much.”

“I’m not _that_ bad in the kitchen” Louis pouts.

“Are so,” Lily argues. “We spent my seventh birthday at Uncle Liam’s house, on account of you literally _burnt our kitchen down_ ,” she informs him. Louis grins sheepishly.

“The whole kitchen?” he asks meekly.

“The whole kitchen,” Lily confirms. Louis sighs.

“I’m useless,” he complains. “What was I even trying to do?”

“Make pasta, I think,” Lily shrugs. “Or two minute noodles, I don’t know.”

“ _Useless_ ,” Louis repeats, and Lily laughs.

“Well, it’s lucky you have me to make you food then, isn’t it?” a voice says from the doorway. Louis looks up, and smiles softly when he sees Harry standing there, wearing only green boxers (and actually, that’s pretty considerate of him. Usually, he wouldn’t be wearing anything. But, then again, usually there isn’t a nine year old girl that Harry doesn’t know is half his hanging around the house) and holding a tray of food.

“Very lucky,” Lily agrees. “I think we would have all died, if you hadn’t been around,” she tells him, and Harry grins.

“I made pancakes, and also bacon and eggs,” he says, and Lily beams.

“Yay!” she squeals, and Harry smiles again, carefully walking over to the bed, and setting the tray down.

“Take what you want,” he tells Louis, who smiles, and picks up a piece of bacon.

“I love pancakes,” Lily tells Harry, who smiles. “Especially with jam!”

“I thought you might,” Harry shrugs. “Gemma loved them when she was about your age. I never did, so maybe it’s just a girl thing.”

Lily smiles up at him. “When are we going to see Auntie Gemma and Grandma Anne?” she questions. Harry and Louis lock eyes, and shrug simultaneously.

“We can go down tonight, or tomorrow morning,” Harry says.  “I rang mum yesterday, she doesn’t care when we come.”

“Well let’s go tonight then?” Louis says. “That way we have time to pack and stuff. And, also, I still have to ring mum and tell her that I’m not coming down.”

“Invite her up then,” Harry shrugs. “It’s not like it’ll be a problem. My mum loves your mum, and the girls all like Gemma well enough. They’ll love Lily- how could they not- and it’ll be fine, right?”

Louis bites his lip. “I don’t know. Only, I’ll have to lie to mum, and tell her that Dad had another kid, and I know that’ll hurt her, a bit. Plus, it’d be too crowded with all four of my sisters, my mum, and us three there.”

Harry sighs. “Don’t be stupid. We can stay at the Bungalow. The girls can take my room, and Jay can stay in our spare room. It’ll be fine Lou.”

“I still don’t want to lie to my mum Harry,” Louis protests, chewing on some more bacon. “I hate lying to her.”

“I’m sorry,” Lily interjects.  “This is all my fault,” she says, and she’s tearing up now, and- crap. Crap, crap, _crap_. Louis reaches out to pull her into a hug, or something, anything to comfort her, but Harry’s hands reach her first.

“Oh, no, don’t be silly,” Harry says, pulling Lily into a hug, and glaring at Louis over her head. “It’s not your fault pretty girl, nothings your fault, okay? Your Daddy is just being a poo head, okay?”

Laughter bubbles through Lily’s lips and Louis smiles in relief. “Harry’s right,” he agrees a second later. “I’m a very big bum head.”

“Poo head,” Lily and Harry both correct. Louis rolls his eyes, but nods anyway.

“Right. Poo head,” he agrees, smiling as Lily laughs again.

“I’m still sorry,” she says quietly. “I didn’t realise this would be so difficult.  And now you have to lie to Grandma Jay, and-”                               

“That’s not your fault,” Louis interrupts. “Look, it’ll be okay. I’ll invite her down, and I’ll just tell her that you don’t want us to talk about it, and I’ll make sure nobody brings it up, alright?” Lily nods tearfully, and Harry frowns.

“Do you like Lou’s sisters?” he randomly asks.

“Yes,” Lily answers softly. “Lottie and Fizzy are very nice, and are always bringing me presents. And Phoebe and Daisy are my favourites. I wish I was a twin,” she says wistfully. Harry smiles down at her.

“What about Gemma? Do you get along with her?”

Lily beams. “Aunty Gemma is my absolute favourite. She always helps me play pranks on Daddy and you, and I have lots of sleepovers with-” Lily cuts herself off, and blushes.  “I can’t finish that sentence,” she sighs, and Harry nods.

“Future stuff?”

“Future stuff,” Lily confirms. Harry runs his fingers through his hair, and Louis hops off of the bed.

“Well, I better go ring mum and explain that I won’t be coming home, and then start packing some stuff, I guess,” he says, and Harry nods at him.

“I’ll help Lily get ready as well,” he tells him. “Invite her over, okay? For tomorrow night, yeah?”

Louis nods slowly. “Yeah.”

Louis kisses Lily on the head, and disappears out of the room, leaving Harry and Lily alone.

“Lily,” Harry begins, and Lily cranes her head up to stare at him.

“Yes?”

“Am I-” Harry breaks off, not sure how to phrase the question.  “I mean. Am I happy, in the future?” he finally asks. Lily bites her lip, and nods.

“Yes,” she tells him, patting his cheek.

“Do I have kids?” he asks hopefully. Lily pauses, and Harry feels his heart plummet.

“I’m not saying _no_ , but I’m also not saying _yes_ ,” she tells him. “I can’t tell you that.”

Harry sighs, but nods.  “Okay. But I’m happy,” he says, and it’s not a question exactly, but more of a reassurance. He might not end up with Louis, not like he always thought, always _hoped_ and _prayed_ for, but Lily thinks he’s happy.

“Very happy,” she confirms, and Harry slowly smiles.

*

It’s half five by the time they finally get on the road. They’re not going to get to Harry’s mums until it’s about nine o’clock, but they’re okay with that.

“That means we get to eat take away for dinner, right?” Lily questions from the backseat of the car. Louis laughs, and nods his head.

“Of _course_ ,” he agrees, like it’d be utterly despicable to think otherwise.

“Good,” Lily says. “Because I have a hankering for pizza with pineapple,” she informs them. Harry and Louis share a look, and both burst into laughter at the same time.

“A _hankering_?” they manage to repeat through their giggles.

Lily lets out a huff. “It’s a word, look it up,” she tells them, grumpy now.

“No, we _know_ it’s a word, but- why are you using it, exactly?” Harry questions, meeting her eyes in the rear view mirror.

“It was my ‘word of the day’ the day before I came here,” Lily says, still frowning at her parents.

“You have a ‘word of the day,’ really?” Louis says, laughing again.

“Yes, I do,” Lily tells him, and he can hear the annoyance in her tone. “It’s a word of the day calendar. Liam gave it to me for Christmas, and-”

“Oh, Liam, well, that explains it,” Harry interrupts, and Lily sticks her tongue out at him, and Harry just smiles at her through the mirror.

“Word of the day, honestly,” Louis mutters from the passenger seat. It sets Harry off again, and he starts giggling, Louis quickly joining in. It’s nice, if Harry thinks about it. Louis has been distant with him for a while now, and he’s letting his guard down again. Harry only hope’s it’ll last.

*

They finally arrive at Harry’s old house, after a lot of driving and ever more bathroom stops (“It’s not _my_ fault I have a small bladder Daddy, really, if you think about it, I’m half of you, so we probably have you to blame, honestly.” “Lily?” “Yes Daddy?” “Shut up and go pee.”).

“What if they don’t like me?” Lily whispers when Harry’s parking. Louis turns around and smiles softly at Lily.

“Don’t be silly Lily,” he tells her, grinning at the rhyme. “You’re perfect, how could they not love you?”

Lily refuses to meet her Dads eyes, and just stares at her hands. “Lou’s right Lil,” Harry agrees, finally turning the car off. “They’ll love you. Even if you do have the misfortune of being half of Lou,” he teases, causing Lily to smile.

“It is a shame,” Lily agrees, nodding her head.

“Oh shut up, the pair of you,” Louis complains, opening the car door and stepping out. The front door of the house opens, and Anne comes rushing out, grinning.

“My babies,” she cries, pulling Louis into a hug. “It has been _far_ too long Louis, honestly!” she tells him, squeezing him tight.

“Sorry Anne,” Louis whispers in her ear, hugging her back. One of the best things about being in One Direction was the extended family. All the boy’s had grown close with each other’s families, but for Louis, Anne and Gemma weren’t his _extended_ family, just his family. Anne was a second mum, and Gemma was like another sister (even though Louis constantly said he had too many sisters already).

He knew Harry felt the same way about his family as well. Harry absolutely adored Louis’ little sisters, especially the twins, who basically worshiped the ground Harry walked on.

“And this must be the gorgeous little Lily that my son won’t stop talking about, am I right?” Anne says, pulling away from Louis’ arms and smiling at a nervous looking Lily.

“You’ve been talking about me?” Lily asks, peering curiously at Harry, who blushes.

“A bit,” he shrugs. Lily smiles happily, before turning back to Anne.

“Hello,” she says politely. “I’m Lily and it’s so nice to finally meet you,” she adds, smiling up at Anne, before extending a hand for her to shake. Louis looks between the pair anxiously, worried that Lily would let something slip about Anne being her grandmother, or that Anne would pick up on something, but thankfully Anne just smiled softly back at the young girl, and shook her hand.

“I’m Anne, Harry’s mum,” Anne tells her. “How are you?”

“Very good, thank you. And yourself?” Lily responds.

“She can be very polite when she wants to be, can’t she?” Harry whispers in his ear. Louis lets out a small laugh, and nods in agreement.

“She’s a complete monster around us though, how unfair,” he jokes, causing Harry to grin.

“She’s got _you_ as a Dad Lou, honestly, what did you expect?” Louis’ eyes crinkle as he nods again. “Her mum must be a saint, to put up with you. And to teach her manners, because I know she didn’t learn those from you,” Harry adds, his grin faltering slightly.

Louis blinks at him, and squeezes his arm reassuringly. Harry seemed upset at the idea of Louis marrying a woman, and having a kid with someone that wasn’t him, even if he didn’t know why. “I’m starting to think her mum is just her imagination,” Louis tells Harry, winking. “I mean, I couldn’t have possibly gotten a girl to marry me, and have a _kid_ with me.”

Harry’s answering smile lights up his face, which just causes Louis to smile in return. “You’re probably right,” Harry agrees, before looking over Louis’ shoulder and smiling again. “Gemma!” he calls out, stepping past Louis to go hug his sister.

Trying to avoid staring at the way that Harry’s face was lit up as he hugged his sister, Louis turned his head and looked over at Lily, who was smiling happily while talking to Anne and it was obvious that his daughter had already won over her future grandmother. Louis mentally groaned as he realised that his eyes had unwillingly wandered over to Harry and Gemma again. If Harry kept smiling like that, he was well and truly _fucked_.

*

“Jay rang a little while ago, and said she was probably driving down some time tomorrow,” Anne informs Harry, Louis and Lily, before taking a sip of her tea.

“Oh, shit, sorry Anne, I should have asked, but Harry said it’d be okay, and-”

“Louis?” Gemma interrupts. Louis blushes.

“Yeah?”

“Shut up,” Gemma tells him, smiling. “It’s fine Lou, honestly.”

“You know very well that I love Jay, and the girls, so having them here won’t be a problem at all,” Anne agrees.

“Told you so,” Harry grins, nudging Louis’ ribs with his elbow.  Louis lets out an _oof_ before smiling softly at Anne and Gemma.

“Thank you,” he says. “Me, Harry and Lily already agreed to go stay at the bungalow, just so it’s not as smushed during the night and stuff,” he adds, and Lily smiles up at him from her place on his lap.

“Yay,” she trills quietly. “I lo- I mean, I watched your DVD, and the Bungalow looks like a cool place,” she says, her smile faltering a bit at her almost mistake.

“And, the pool’s heated, so we can go swimming if you want,” Harry says quickly.

“I don’t have any bathers,” Lily pouts.

“We can go shopping before, and get you some,” Louis suggests to her, and is rewarded with a happy smile.

“Yay,” she repeats; her voice much sleepier this time. Louis and Harry both look down at her in concern.

“Are you tired baby?” Harry questions, reaching over to run his hands through her curls.

“A little bit,” she frowns. Harry stands up, and pulls her off Louis’ lap.

“She can sleep in my old room,” he tells Louis, as Lily wraps her arms around his neck, and her legs around his waist. “You can as well, and I’ll sleep on the couch or something, is that alright?”

Louis nods his head slowly, standing up and kissing Lily’s cheek. “I’ll come in and say goodnight in a little bit, alright pretty?”

“Okay,” Lily mumbles sleepily, smiling at him. “Night Anne, goodnight Gemma, it was nice meeting you both,” she says, ever polite.  Anne and Gemma both smile in return.

“We’ll talk more in the morning, okay Lily?” Gemma tells her. “And I can tell you lots of stories about how dorky your brother was when he was on X Factor,” she adds, laughing when Louis glares at her.

“I hate you,” he pouts, sitting back down.

“You love me,” Gemma laughs.

“See you in the morning sweetie,” Anne says, smiling at Lily.

“I’ll be back down once she’s all tucked in,” Harry says, before heading up the stairs, Lily still clinging to him.

“She’s lovely Louis,” Anne tells him.

“She’s so much like you,” Gemma adds. “Which is weird, considering neither of you even spent time with your dad, you know?”

“Oh- yeah- right,” Louis stutters.  “I guess her mum must be a lot like mine, or something,” he says, shrugging his shoulders. Gemma gives him a curious look, while Anne just smiles.

“Lou, your phone is going off,” Gemma tells him, pointing to the vibrating phone sitting on a table charging.

“Thanks Gem,” Louis says. “I’ll be right back,” he adds, unplugging it and answering it as he walks away. “Hello?” he answers.

“Hey Lou, it’s me,” Liam’s voice replies.

“Oh, hey Li, what’s up?”

“I know it’s late, and you’ve just driven for like, three hours, so I’m sorry for calling, but I just got a message from management, and they decided that _Feels Like Fireworks_ is too ‘grown up’ for our fan base at this point in time, and they’ve agreed to swap it with _They Don’t Know About Us_ , so- yeah, everything’s all good,” Liam tells him.

Louis frowns. "Why's that? I quite like _Feels Like Fireworks_ ,” he admits.

"Lily didn't tell you? Apparently  _They Don't Know About Us_ is meant to be on this album, on account of it's super important in getting you and her mum together, or something," Liam explains, and Louis frowns again, trying to recall the lyrics of  _They Don't Know About Us_ , and then sighs when he realises.

"Yeah, that'd be right," he mumbles. "Okay Li, thanks. When do they want us to come in and record it?”

“Just whenever we’re all back in London,” Liam says. “Niall’s flying out to Ireland tomorrow, and me and Dani are going to LA for a couple days, so besides Zayn, nobody’s actually _in_ London. And Zayn refused to work while we were all off ‘having fun’ as he put it, so yeah. Just in like a week or so, when we’re all back, if that’s okay?” Liam’s rambling, and Louis lets out a laugh.

“Yeah, that’s fine Li, whatever,” he smiles.

“How’s it going up there anyway?” Liam questions. “Anne or Gemma suspect anything?”

Louis sighs, and sits down on a kitchen chair.  “I don’t think so. Lily’s got them both wrapped around her little finger already though,” he adds, smiling slightly.

Liam laughs. “Of course she does, she’s a bloody charmer,” he says. “Oh- hey, Dani’s ringing on my mobile, so-”

“You gotta go,” Louis fills in. “That’s cool, I’ll talk to you later, yeah?”

“Yeah, sorry, have fun with Harry and whatever, bye Lou!” Liam says hurriedly, before hanging up.

“Rude,” Louis huffs.

*

“Can you sing for me again?” Lily asks, once she’s in her pyjama’s and snuggled up in Harry’s old bed.

“Of course baby girl,” Harry says softly. “What do you want this time?”

Lily scrunches up her face in thought. “Little Things?” she questions, and Harry frowns.

“I can, if you'd really like, only it feels weird, without the other boys and all,” he explains, causing Lily to sigh.

“Damn, I was hoping that was just a future thing,” she grins. “Okay, um. I don’t know,” she whines.

“Erm- can I just try something?” Harry asks. Lily looks at him curiously, but nods anyway. “Okay, I dunno if I’ll remember all the lyrics, but- oh well, I’ll try.”

“Okay,” Lily murmurs. Harry clears his throat, before he begins to softly sing. Harry watches as Lily’s eyes grow sleepier, and finally shut completely, so he stops singing.

"I like Paramore,” Lily whispers after a few seconds of silence, causing Harry to smile.

“ _Only Exception_ is my favourite song of theirs," Harry agrees, kissing her head. “Get some sleep Lily, okay?”

“Goodnight, I love you,” she whispers, which makes Harry’s eyes water, a bit.

“I love you too baby girl,” he whispers, before kissing her cheek again, and walking quietly out of the room. He shuts the door softly, and turns around, smacking right into Gemma. “What the _hell_ Gem?” he whisper-shouts, mindful of the sleeping girl.

“What was that?” Gemma replies, raising an eyebrow.

“What was _what_?” Harry shoots back.

“You, with Lily,” Gemma clarifies. “God, Harry, I know you love little kids and all, but that was just _weird_ , you were like- all fatherly towards her,” Gemma say, crinkling her nose the same way Harry knows he does when he’s confused.

“I dunno, she’s Lou’s _sister_ , and she’s never had a dad before, I’m just being a good _friend_ ,” Harry snaps, leaning against the wall.

Gemma scoffs. “I’m not an idiot Harry. I know you’re lying to me.”

“You don’t know _anything_ ,” Harry tells her, and Gemma looks at him sadly.

“I know you love Louis,” Gemma says. Harry’s mouth falls open in shock and he stares at Gemma.

“What?” he manages to get out. “Come on Gem, don’t be ridiculous,” he scoffs, his cheeks reddening with the lie.

“No, don’t _you_ be ridiculous,” Gemma snaps. “Look, I’ve known for three years now H, so don’t you _dare_ lie to me now.”

Harry groans, and slides down the wall, putting his head in his hands. “Does anyone else know?”

“Um, only _everyone_ ,” Gemma says, joining him on the ground. “Except, apparently- Louis.”

“He’s always been a bit stupid,” Harry agrees, sighing.

Gemma frowns, and wraps an arm around Harry’s shoulders. “Have you- I mean- are you gonna _do_ anything about it?”

Harry lets out a bitter laugh. “Like _what_ Gem? Louis is _straight_ and has a _girlfriend_. What am I _supposed_ to do?”

“Tell him,” Gemma says simply.

“It’s not that easy,” Harry protests.

Gemma levels him with a look. “Yes H, it is. Because you _love_ him, and okay, maybe he doesn’t love you- or maybe he does, and doesn’t know it yet- but you’ll never be able to move on unless _you_ know,” she tells him.

“Gem, I can’t tell him. If he rejects me, it’d just make everything super awkward, and ruin it all,” Harry tells her. “And- I’m trying, okay? I’m trying to get over him.”

Gemma raises an eyebrow, and god- Harry hates his mum for ever teaching Gemma that one. “And how on _earth_ do you plan on doing that, when you’ve been in love with him for _three years_?”

“I’m gonna start seeing other people,” Harry shrugs. “It worked with Caroline, for a little while. Until it got out, I mean.”

Gemma glares at him. “Who do you plan on seeing then Harry?”

“I don’t know,” Harry replies honestly. “Anyone, as long as I can stop feeling like this about him,” he adds quietly, and Gemma’s eyes soften.

“I’m sorry baby bro,” she whispers, leaning her head on his shoulder.  “Want me to hit him?”

Harry laughs quietly, and shakes his head. “Love you Gemma.”

“I love you too Hazhead,” Gemma returns, before pausing. "But really- it's not like it'd be a problem, or anything. Hitting Lou, that is. I've always kind of wanted to."

Harry laughs again. "Most people do, after spending more than two minutes with him," he agrees.

*

When Louis wakes up the next morning, there’s a little girl sitting on top of him, just like yesterday. Only today the little girl is glaring at him and doesn’t look amused at all.

“Hi,” he croaks. “Did my snoring keep you up or something?”

“You’re an _idiot,_ ” Lily informs him. “Dad _loves_ you so much, and you’re _still_ with Eleanor, even though you _know_ that’s not right? What is your _issue_?”

“Woah, what brought this on?” Louis says, sitting up slightly.

“Dad is _so_ heartbroken over you, Daddy, and you need to get it together, and just bloody admit that you _love_ him,” Lily says, rather than answering the question.

“But I _don’t_ ,” Louis snaps, suddenly annoyed. “I _don’t_ love him, I love _Eleanor;_ we've been together for over a year now, and we spend as much time together as we can, and she gets along with the boys and we like each others families, and I'm  _comfortable_ with her," Louis protests, and Lily rolls her eyes.

“That’s not _love_ , that’s like- commitment, or something. Things that are _love_ are- like, feelings and making pancakes at four in the morning because you’re hungry and Daddy make good pancakes and it’s you singing him cute songs when he’s sad and it’s- being with someone that knows you like the green M &Ms better than all the other ones. That’s the stuff that matters,” Lily says, because it’s _true_ and Louis has always been kind of slow about the things that matter.

"I’m not gonna dump my girlfriend of a _year_ just because some _kid_ tells me that I’m apparently _gay_ and in love with my best friend!” Louis snaps, terrified beyond belief at the picture she's painting of his and Harry's life with each other.

“ _Some kid_?” Lily repeats, her voice growing louder. Her eyes are blazing, and Louis instantly knows he’s made a mistake. “Fine, whatever. Screw up your life, and make sure I never get one, _I don’t care_ ,” she spits out, before jumping off the bed and storming out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

“Fuck,” Louis mutters, before letting his head fall back and hit the pillow.

*

By the time Louis get up the guts to go downstairs, it’s lunchtime, and everyone’s in the kitchen. “Hey Lily,” he says gently, walking into the kitchen and taking a seat next to Harry. Lily takes one look at him, puts her sandwich down, and leaves the room. Gemma, Anne and Harry all stare accusingly at Louis, who shrugs.

“What was that?” Harry questions.

“Sibling stuff,” Louis tells him with a meaningful look, hoping that Harry will understand he means father/daughter stuff.

Harry nods understandingly, and stands up. “I’ll go check on her,” he offers, and Louis shoots him a grateful look.

“Thank you,” he mouths to him. Harry just smiles in return, picking up her discarded sandwich and juice box, before disappearing to go find Lily. After poking his head in a few rooms, he finally finds her in the guest room, sitting on the chair in front of the keyboard, playing a tune Harry recognises, but can’t place.

“Hey Lily,” he says softly, sitting down next to her, putting her lunch on the table next to her.

“Hi,” Lily replies grumpily, frowning at her food.

“Whatcha playing?” Harry questions, thinking he should try and keep her mind off of whatever happened between her and Louis.

“ _Hallelujah_ ,” Lily says. “Only I’m having trouble getting it right.”

“Who’s version?” Harry says, happy he’s finally placed the tune.

“Jeff Buckley’s,” Lily answers. “It’s my favourite, so.”

“Want me to help?” Harry questions, and Lily nods happily, and begins playing the song from the start. "You're really good, for a nine year old," Harry compliments once she's run through the song once. "You have Lou's voice, that's for sure." Lily's face clouds over at the mention of her father.

"Stupid voice," she grumbles, causing Harry to laugh.

"You don't sing a whole lot like him, though," he comforts her. "Lou's very- all over the place, when he performs. You're controlled and collected, and stuff. It's a nice change, really."

Lily smiles softly. "I can't get the note towards the end here," she tells him, singing it.

“It's got to be held a bit longer, I think, but then it sort of drops out in the middle, a bit,” Harry explains, before singing it himself, accompanied by Lily’s little fingers flying over the keyboard. “Like that, see?”

Lily nods, biting her lip in concentration, before repeating the piano notes, and singing the word herself this time. “Like that?” she questions, looking up at Harry with wide eyes.

“ _Exactly_ like that,” Harry agrees, smiling at her.

*

After about thirty minutes, Louis decides to go look for Lily himself, and apologise. When he’s walking down the hallway, he hears a piano playing, along with Lily’s soft voice singing along. He’s just about to open the door when he hears Harry’s voice join in. After they finish the song, Louis lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“That was perfect Lily,” he hears Harry praise. “Completely and utterly _amazing_.”

Lily giggles. “You were amazing Dad!” Louis stiffens as he registers Lily’s words. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! I mean to say Harry, I was just-” Lily stopped when she heard Harry laugh softly.

“It’s okay Lily,” he reassures. “I know I must have felt like a second Dad, growing up and all.” Louis sighs in relief, and through the slightly open door, he hears Lily do the same.

“Yes, right, exactly,” she agrees quickly. Louis decides that now’s the right time to intervene, so he flings the door open.

“Hi,” he says, smiling meekly at Lily who’s glaring at him.

Harry stands up abruptly. “I’ll um- just let you two sort out your ‘sibling’ stuff,” he says, winking at Lily who giggles slightly. “Play _nice_ ,” he hisses in Louis’ ear when he walks by, leaving Louis to scoff. He resent Harry’s implication that the fight was his fault.

(Even though it was, maybe. A little bit. Okay, a _lot_.)

“I’m sorry,” Louis starts off with, sitting down on the fold out couch. Lily’s glare softens a little bit.

“And?” she says.

“And you’re right, okay, I know that obviously El isn’t the girl I’m supposed to be with, but- Lily, this is _hard_ , okay, because-”

“I know _why_ it’s hard Daddy, I just know it’ll be a hell of a lot easier when you accept it already,” Lily interrupts.

“Don’t say hell,” Louis mutters, ignoring the roll of her eyes. “I’m gonna try though, okay? I just- need some time, and stuff to work it out. Just- let me do this in my own time, okay?”

Lily shakes her head. “I _can’t_ Daddy, because then I’ll get pulled back into _my_ own time, and-”

“Okay, look, give me another few days to work through this- like, mentally and emotionally and stuff, and then I’ll do everything your way, okay? I promise,” he says, and Lily sighs.

“Fine,” she agrees.  “But you have to _promise_.”

“On my life,” Louis says, and Lily smiles softly.

“Okay then,” she says.

“Okay then,” Louis repeats, mimicking Lily’s voice, all the while keeping a straight face. Lily smiles and finally lets out a little giggle, and Louis knows he’s won her back. “I love you Lily,” Louis tells her, in his regular voice this time. “I know that I’ve only known you for a while and everything, but- you’re such a wonderful little kid, and- there’s just something about you.”

“It’s Dad’s genes,” she shrugs, leaving the keyboard to come sit next to him. “I’m half of him, so how could you not love me?” Louis frowns, but nods anyway, because she’s probably right. “And for the record,” Lily adds.  “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/slytherinlarry_) and [tumblr](http://slytherin-larrie.tumblr.com).


	8. Chapter 8

"So are you excited about meeting Louis' mum and sisters?" Anne asked Lily, who bite's her lip and shrugs in response. 

"I'm worried they won't like me," she admits quietly. "Louis is worried his mum won't be happy that his father had yet another kid he didn't raise."

Anne pulls Lily closer. "I can understand both of your concerns, but I promise that one they all get to know you, they won't care about who your father is. They'll love you regardless."

Lily lets a small smile spread across her face. "It's very easy to see that Harry's your son. He's very good at calming me as well."

"I raised him right then," Anne smiles. Lily just returns the smile, agreeing wholeheartedly.

*

“Okay, so just remember, they aren’t your aunt’s yet, they’re just my sisters, which makes them-” Louis breaks off, looking very confused.

“Still my aunts,” Lily interjects, smiling cheekily, causing Harry to laugh quietly.

Louis groans. “Well- yes, but-”

“Calm down Lou, for god sakes,” Harry says. “Lily’s fine. She knows that the girls are just supposed to be her half-brothers half-sisters, and- oops, now I’ve confused myself.”

Lily lets out a peal of laughter. “Wow, it’s a miracle I’m as intelligent as I am, considering I had you two raise me,” she says, winking at Harry whose grin falters.

“I’m giving full credit to your mum, actually,” Harry says quietly. “God knows she has to be some sort of super woman, considering you turned out _normal_ , even though you grew up around One Direction.”

Lily frowns slightly and looks up at Louis with sad eyes, wishing she could just tell her Dad that he was- well, her _dad_ and take away the pain he’s obviously feeling at the thought of Louis not loving him back. She remembers the time when she was seven and Louis left for a little while- after screaming arguments every night, and bitter breakfast's, where they only spoke to Lily, and not to each other- that Harry was utterly miserable the entire time. 

“I think we must have let Liam and Danielle baby sit her a lot, right Lil?” Louis jokes, also sensing Harry's sadness. “There’s no way a kid could have spent every day with me and still turned out the way you did.”

Lily’s eyes shine happily as she smiles up at her parents. “I spent a lot of days with Harry as well. I think that’s where my intelligence comes from.”

Harry gives Lily a small smile, and runs his fingers through her hair. “I look forward to spending those days with you Lily, but as for right now, we best go outside, because I just heard a car pull up, so-”

“Mum!” Louis cries, as he bolts for the door. Harry lets Lily slip her small hand into his as they follow him (at a much slower pace) outside, to where Louis is hugging his mum so tightly he’s practically lifting her off the ground.

Lily tugs on Harry’s sleeve with her free hand until he looks down at her. “You were right, in insisting she came here,” Lily tells him. “He really needed to see her- you know, a reminder that some things are still normal, even when you have a time traveling daughter.”

Harry smiles at Lily, and she notes with happiness that it doesn’t look as forced this time. “It may not be normal- you being here, but, well. Our lives haven’t been normal since Simon told us we were in a band together, so.”

“Normal is overrated anyway,” Lily says, squeezing Harry’s hand tightly. “Now, I know what Phoebe and Daisy look like in about fifteen years, but I’m sure they probably look a lot different now, so let’s go see if I can still tell them apart.”

“You better be able to, because Louis has no clue,” Harry says, gesturing to Louis looking at the twins with some confusion. Lily giggles and marches right up to them, all traces of nerves gone. The second the twins spot Harry, they launch themselves at him, practically talking him to the ground.

“Harry!” one of them squeals.

“We _missed_ you,” the other adds.

“Don’t stay away that long ever again!” the first one scolds, smiling at him.

“Never again,” he promises, hugging them both tightly. After they de-tangle themselves from him, Harry takes Lily’s hand again. “Girls, this is Lily,” he introduces. Lily smiles shyly, and gives a little wave.

“Hi,” she says, her voice quiet, but strong. Daisy and Phoebe eye her for a second, before turning to each other. Harry looks on with amusement- if it weren’t for the fact that the twins weren’t actually saying anything, he would swear they were having a conversation, just by their facial expressions and movements.

“Don’t be rude girls, honestly,” Louis complains, shooting a comforting look in Lily’s direction.

“We’re not being rude!” Daisy or Phoebe protests.

“You were doing that twin thing again,” Louis comments, and Phoebe or Daisy giggles.

“You’re just jealous because you _aren’t_ a twin,” she teases, poking her tongue out at her older brother, who rolls his eyes in return (he laughs anyway).

“Oh god, please don’t talk about twin Louis’,” Harry groans. “One of them is enough, I couldn’t possibly deal with _two_. I’m going to have nightmares just thinking about it!”

“Imagine how smelly your apartment would be,” Lily adds, giggling. “ _Twice_ the amount of stinky, sweaty shoes!”

Daisy and Phoebe stare at Lily again, before both giggling.  “We like you,” they inform her, at the same time.

“Creepy,” Harry stage whispers to Louis, who laughs.

“Mate, you don’t know the _half_ of it,” he replies.

“I’m Daisy,” one of the twins tells Lily.

“And I’m Phoebe,” the other one chimes in. “And it’s nice to meet you,” they continue, simultaneously.

“You too,” Lily smiles. “Did you bring bathers? Harry and Louis are taking me swimming at the bungalow, we’re going after lunch!”

Daisy and Phoebe light up, as they nod their heads excitedly. “Can we come too?” Daisy asks. Louis pretends to think for a minute, while the twins shoot him matching, pleading looks; actually going as far as to press their hands together and _beg_.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Harry muses, joining in. “The pool at the bungalow might be a bit too small for _all_ of you.”

Louis grin’s cheekily and nods in agreement. “Yeah- we might just leave you lot behind and invite the lad’s up. It can be boys only; payback for all the times you and the other two had ‘girls only’ meetings.”

“Are you _still_ bitter about that?” Lottie asks, finally finished chatting to Gemma and Anne.

“Yeah, honestly Lou, get over it,” Fizzy adds, smiling at Louis, who grins in return, before engulfing them both in a tight hug. “We missed you,” Fizzy whispers in his ear. Louis smiles, and tells her, _me too_.”

“What about me?” Harry teases. “I’m hurt Lottie, I thought we had something special.”

Lottie blushes, but steps forward to hug Harry all the same, Fizzy following not long after. “I suppose we missed you too.”

“Speak for yourself,” Fizzy objects. “It’s awful having a _boy_ around who has prettier hair than I do. Honestly Harry, how could you?” Harry’s loud laugh mixes with Lily’s soft, musical one, which draw’s Lottie and Fizzy’s attention to the little girl, still pressed to Harry’s side.

“You must be Lily,” Lottie guesses, smiling happily at her. “I’m Lottie, and this is Fizzy, though I’m sure you already knew that.”

Lily nods her head. “I did. And I am. Lily, I mean,” she mumbles, blushing. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Louis has told me about all of you.” He hadn’t, really. He’d barely mentioned them in Lily’s presence. But maybe if she slipped up somehow, revealed that she knew too much, this would explain it.

“I can’t say the same, unfortunately,” Lottie shrugs. “We’d never heard of you, until now.”

Lily nods. “Yeah, right. Obviously.” Harry puts a hand on Lily’s shoulder, comforting her.

“Um, let’s go say hi to Jay, yeah?” Harry suggests, looking over at his and Louis’ mothers who are chatting happily.

“We’re gonna go unpack first,” Lottie says, gesturing to herself and Fizzy.

“And also pee, because that was a really long care ride,” Fizzy adds, causing everyone to laugh. The two girls rush inside, while Lily grips Harry’s hand tighter.

“What if she hates me?” she whispers quietly, a scared look in her eyes. Harry crouches down and tilts her chin up, so she’s looking straight at him.

“Listen to me Lily, nobody could _ever_ hate you, alright? You’re funny and smart and talented and beautiful, and pretty perfect, actually, so seriously, _don’t worry_ ,” he tells her. A small smile tugs on Lily’s lips.

“You think I’m perfect?”

Harry smiles. “Of course I do darling. You’re Louis’ daughter, how could you not be?” Lily frowns as she notices Harry’s smile weaken slightly, but he shakes his head and it disappears. “Now, let’s go say hi, alright?

Lily nods, and they walk over to Anne, Jay and Gemma. “Harry!” Jay cries, hugging him immediately. Harry doesn’t let go of Lily’s hand once. “Oh, it’s been _far_ too long! Honestly, you two have to come home more often!”

Harry laughs as uses his free arm to hug Jay back. “Sorry, we’ve been so busy, with the new album and all. And now Lily, of course,” he says, smiling down at her. Jay’s eyes dart down to Lily, and her smile falters.

“Hello,” she says. “I’m Jay, Louis’ mum. How are you?”

Lily looks up at Harry, who nods. “I’m Lily,” she says, almost as though she’s unsure. “I’m good thank you. And how are you?” Jay looks taken aback by her politeness, but answers all the same.

“I’m good as well, thanks,” she says, tilting her head. “You- I was going to say you looked familiar, but of course you do, you _are_ my ex-husband’s child, after all.”

“She looks a lot like Louis, doesn’t she?” Gemma chimes in. “I mean, if I didn’t know any better, I’d swear she was his daughter!” she adds, letting out a little laugh. Lily, Harry and Louis all remain silent, before laughing nervously when they realise she was just _joking_.

“Can’t say I ever had any kids when I was- um,” Louis says, breaking off.

“Eleven,” Harry and Lily say. “Honestly Lou, that’s just basic math,” Harry complains. “Even _Lily_ knew, and she’s nine.”

“And four months,” Lily interjects, grinning when Harry and Louis roll their eyes and groan.

“Mummy, guess what mummy?” Daisy says, hugging Jay’s legs and smiling.

“Louis and Harry are taking us swimming at the bungalow later!” Phoebe tells her, a matching smile on her identical face.

“Oi, I don’t think we agreed to anything of the sort!” Harry protests.

“Yeah, we only said we were taking _Lily_ swimming,” Louis adds. “Because she’s nice, and doesn’t try to trick me all the time.”

“Yeah, _okay_ ,” Lily muttered under her breath, sarcasm obvious in her tone.

Harry winks at her. “Well, she has nine years of tricking you to make up for, so I think we can let it slide if she does,” he grins. Lily rolls her eyes.

“I’m hungry, can we go have lunch?” she asks Harry, who shrugs.

“Yeah, sure. How about we go out for a Chinese, or something? We’ll all go, give mum and Jay a chance to catch up, yeah?” he suggests. Jay and Anne smile at him, and nod in agreement.

“That’d be lovely Harry, thank you,” Jay says, digging in her bag- for her purse, Harry assumes.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s on me,” he says, and she frowns, before putting her purse back and smiling at him.

“Oh, well if you’re paying, I’m coming too,” Gemma says, grinning when Harry pokes his tongue out at her. “How about you three go freshen up and get ready, and we’ll leave in about twenty minutes?” Gemma suggests, smiling down at the twins and Lily, who all nod in agreement before racing into the house.

“She’s really beautiful,” Jay comments, staring after her. “And she does- look at lot like you. Except her-”

“Her smile, right?” Gemma supplies, eyes darting over to Louis and Harry. Louis blushes and stares down at his feet while Harry nods in agreement.

“Her smile is lovely,” he says, and Louis snorts. Of course it is. It’s Harry’s fucking smile, what does he expect? Harry eyes him curiously, but shrugs only seconds later, clearly putting it down to Louis’ usual insanity. Gemma on the other hand keeps staring at Louis, almost accusingly. Louis wonders if she knows, maybe. If she’s pieced together that Lily’s entirely too much like Harry, considering she’s only supposed to have met him less than a week ago. But then Gemma’s eyes flick over to her mum, and stay there, and Louis thinks that she can’t possibly know, can’t possibly believe it, even if she did have suspicions (he almost doesn’t believe it himself. Keeps expecting to wake up one day, and tell Harry about this hilarious dream he had, where they had a child, a little girl together, and that- maybe he doesn’t want it to be a dream. Maybe he’s sort of glad it isn’t, really.)

“Yes, it is,” he agrees quietly, even though the moment has long passed.

*

“Daisy, put that _down_ , we do not take phones into the pool- Phoebe, I swear to god, if you don’t stop trying to eat ice cream in the water, I’m going to kill you- honestly Lily, you’re supposed to be the mature one, _please_ stop trying to drown Harry, he’s kind of lovely to have around.”

Harry manages to keep his head above water long enough to say, _thanks Lou, I quite like being around too_ , before Lily’s shoving him back under, giggling the entire time.

“She seems like a right handful,” Gemma comments to Louis, who shrugs.

“She’s worth it,” he replies, and Gemma smiles.

“You guys are unusually close- considering you only just met a little while ago,” she says, and Louis is again struck by the fear that she _knows_ something. “I mean, you don’t even seem as close with the other girls. Why do you think that is?” she asks, narrowing her eyes.

“We’ve got a lot of time to make up for,” he says, avoiding the question. “Erm- I better go save H from Lily. Don’t want him getting hurt, or anything.”

Gemma eyes Louis up, as though she’s trying to figure something out. “I know that I sure don’t want to see him hurt,” she starts off, her words coming out slow and thoughtful. “But I haven’t yet figured out what you want.”

Louis sighs. “Me either,” he admits, before diving into the pool, and letting the cold water erase any thoughts he was trying not to think.

*

Later, when everyone is bundled in jackets, and sitting around a fire, Harry pulls a guitar out of nowhere, and hands it to Louis. “Lily, I think there’s something inside, behind the couch, if you want to go look,” he suggests. Lily looks up at Harry, confusion evident in her eyes before bouncing off to go explore.

“You brought the keyboard with you!” she squeals, racing back out. “Are we having a sing a long?”

Louis looks down at the guitar in his hands, and back up at Harry. “Yeah H, are we?”

Harry blushes a bit, but the grin on his face is so wide, and bright, and- it’s like looking at the sun, Louis think. There’s even the same- when he squints up at the sun, there’s that uncontrollable urge to _look away_ before you get burnt, and well- it’s the same here, kind of. “Well Lily finally got that song right, and so- yeah, I thought she could show you what we were practicing before.”

Daisy, Phoebe and Lily rush inside to carry the keyboard out, while Lottie and Fizzy watch on in amusement. “You sing too?” Gemma asks, smiling at Lily, who bites her lip, and nods. “And play the keyboard? How long have you done that?”

“All my life,” Lily answers, which isn’t a lie, really. It was just a different life, Louis supposes.

“What are you singing for us?” Fizzy asks. Lily looks up at Harry, and shrugs.

“Well, first we’re gonna sing _Hallelujah_ , because me and Lily works super hard on it, if that’s alright with Lily, of course,” Lily looks as though she’s about to protest (or throw up, Louis isn’t entirely sure) but Harry continues talking. “Which it is, obviously, because I’m not letting you _not_ hear her, because she’s really good, basically, and you all deserve to hear her sing.”

Lily glares at Harry, but Louis see’s the twinkle in her eyes, and knows that she’s thrilled with the idea of getting to _sing_ properly. She sets up the keyboard, and experimentally plays a few of the keys, before clearing her throat. “Okay, I’m ready,” she announces, blushing when she sees the camera Lottie has pointed right at her.

Lily’s voice dances perfectly over the notes, and everyone is staring at her in awe. Harry and Louis, the only two who have ever heard her sing before, occasionally harmonise with her, but for the most part, Lily sings the song as a solo. Louis doesn’t have to be a time traveller to figure out that his daughter is going to be famous in the future- no matter what happens (has happened for her?) with One Direction, his daughter will easily be able to have a career in music.

When Lily finally finishes the song, the girls all burst into applause, which turns Lily’s cheeks a bright red, but puts a huge smile on her face, so- Louis and Harry clap loudly as well, and they all praise her.

“Honestly Lou, your dad must have had some bloody talented sperm in him if he created you _and_ Lily, god,” Gemma says, still looking amazed. Lily and the twins laugh loudly- Louis assumes the twins find the word ‘sperm’ hilarious, while Lily obviously finds it amusing because, well- her dad is one fifth of One Direction, and her other dad is another fifth of it; of course she’s completely and utterly talented.

“I’m gonna take that as a compliment,” Lily smiles, and Gemma grins and nods.

“You were fantastic Lily, honestly, even _Harry_ wasn’t that good when he was nine,” Gemma teases, poking her tongue out at her brother.

“Oii, watch yourself!” Harry protests, but by the way his eyes are shining, Louis thinks he agrees. 

"She has your voice Lou," Gemma says, ignoring Harry. "Like- almost the exact same, except- not, really? Like, there's something different there."

Louis mock rolls his eyes, cursing Gemma and her ability to notice fucking  _everything_. "Well, we only share half the same genes, Gem. We're not actually the same person," he drawls sarcastically, and Gemma glares at him.

"I know that, idiot, I was just _saying_ " she mumbles.

“Can you sing a song from the new album?” Daisy interrupts- at least, Louis thinks it’s Daisy. Which probably means it’s Phoebe.

“Yeah, we haven’t heard any of them yet,” the other twin complains. Louis shrugs, and looks to Harry.

“It’s weird singing without the other boys though, innit?” he says slowly. “I mean- we’d have to sing their parts as well, which just makes the whole song sound off, and wrong.”

Lottie sighs loudly. “Lily, do you know the lyrics for any of the songs?”

Lily shrugs. “Most of them, why?”

“Well Lily can sing the other boy’s parts then. We know it won’t be the same, but we just wanna hear a bit, please?” Louis groans when he realises all four of his sisters are looking at him with pouts on their faces, and they all have identical puppy dog eyes.

“Louis, I can’t say no to them when they make that face,” Harry whines, frowning at them. “Lily, what song would you feel most comfortable singing?”

Lily looks at Louis, who’s honestly a little bit afraid at the evil grin on her face. “ _They Don’t Know About Us_ or _Irresistible_ are my favourites, I think.”

Harry lights up at her comment. “Oh, I love _They Don’t Know About Us_ , let’s do that one.”

Louis on the other hand, totally disregards that entire exchange and starts strumming the guitar, playing the opening chords for _Change My Mind_.

When Louis finishes his solo, he nods to Lily who smiles when she realises what song, and immediately begins singing Zayn’s solos. And soon Harry is harmonising with the chorus, and- they sound good together, actually. Maybe in the future _One Direction_ can do a song featuring Lily Anne Styles Tomlinson. Harry would like that, Louis thinks.

When the reach Harry’s solo, he looks straight into Louis’ eyes and sings, _never felt like this before, are we friends or are we more? As I’m walking towards the door, I’m not sure._

Louis’ heart hurts a little bit.

*

Later, Lottie uploads the video of Lily singing Hallelujah to twitter, and Louis watches it on his phone, curled up on one of the guest beds in a room at the bungalow, and he watches Lily belt out the lyrics with more passion than a nine year old should have, and he watches himself and Harry sing along, and they look like a proper little family. He gets spammed with tweets about how Lily has his voice, but there's almost as many saying how she's just like Harry, especially when she smiles. 

“I hope more of your kids come back from the future,” Harry says when the video is over, leaning on the door frame. He has two cups of tea in his hands and a happy smile on his face. Louis is a little bit in love, probably.  “We could have a bunch of them and go around singing and be like the Von Trapp family, maybe.”

Louis’ eyes crinkle. “From _The Sound Of Music_?”

Harry nods, and walks over to sit on the bed, handing Louis one of the tea’s. “Except without the Nazi’s.”

Louis nods his head seriously. “Without the Nazi’s,’’ he agrees. “Though- I quite like the idea of Lily being a nun, maybe. Do you think we could talk her in to it?”

Harry laughs, and shakes his head. “Good luck with that one.”

Louis pouts. “I’m her _Dad_ , she has to do what I say, right?”

“I don’t think Lily is the type to ever do what someone else tells her,” he says, shrugging. “She seems pretty independent to me.” Louis sighs, and looks back down at his phone, flicking through a few more of the tweets about how adorable the three of them look together. They're both silent for a while, happy to just sit in each other’s company.

“Do you ever get lonely?” Louis asks suddenly. Harry blinks at him. “I mean- Zayn’s been with Perrie for a while, and Liam and Danielle have been together for ages, and like, Niall has Amy, and other girls, when he wants. And I know that about 99% of what they write in the magazines are lies, because none of us ever really see you with girls, and- I was just wondering, I suppose, if there's any girls you're interested in, or anything?”

Harry blinks again, and stares at Louis for a long moment. “What if- what if it wasn’t just girls that I was interested in?” he asks, speaking his words even slower than usual. Louis’ eyes widen for a second, before he manages to rearrange his face into what he hopes is a ‘ _my best mate who will eventually father my child just admitted he likes guys, but I’m totally cool with that, because- did I mention he’s going to father my child_?’ way.

“Why don’t you ever see any guys then?” Louis finally asks, trying to act as though Harry hasn’t just dropped a huge bombshell on him. “I mean- I get you’d have to be discreet about it, obviously, but like. I’m sure you know people, and all?”

Harry nods slowly. “Um. There’s been a few guys, but- there’s one, in particular. He’s not interested though.”

“Anybody I know?” Louis squeaks out. Harry bites his lip, before shaking his head.

“Just. Um, a friend of Nicks,” he says, sighing.

“Oh, right. Well. As long as it isn’t Nick, I’ll completely support you,” he jokes, poking Harry in the side. Harry grins slightly, and then looks Louis dead in the eyes.

“So- you don’t mind?”

“What’s there to mind?” Louis responds, which, judging by Harry’s happy smile, was exactly the right answer.

“I think that I’m gonna try to get over this guy,” Harry says softly. “He- clearly doesn’t like me. At least, not the way I want him too, and. I can’t deal with it anymore. It hurts a lot,” he admits. Louis’ fingers absentmindedly rub Harry’s thigh, as if to say _I’m here_ and _I won’t ever hurt you, just give me time_ and _we could be good together, promise_.

“I think that’s probably for the best,” Louis agrees. Harry’s breath hitches, and Louis runs his fingers through his curls as his breathing evens out. They fall asleep that way, Louis’ hand tangled in Harry’s hair, and the lyrics _baby if you say you want me to stay, I’ll change my mind, cause I don’t wanna know while I’m walking away, if you’ll be mine_ playing on repeat in Harry’s mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/slytherinlarry_) and [tumblr](http://slytherin-larrie.tumblr.com).


	9. Chapter 9

When Louis wakes up that morning, his hand is somehow still tangled in Harry’s curls, and they’re spooning. Louis blinks from where he's nestled in Harry's arms and thinks  _oh_ , as Harry stirs.

“Hi,” he croaks out, once he’s managed to detangle himself from Harry’s long arms.

Harry’s answering smile is blinding. “Morning. Sleep well?”

Louis nods his head a bit when he realises that yeah, he did actually. “Like a baby. You?”

“Like an even sleepier baby,” Harry jokes, poking Louis in the ribs. “This is nice. Being away from all the fame, and stuff. Just us.”

Louis doesn’t reply. He doesn’t have to; Harry already knows he agrees.

*

Later Louis, Harry and Lily make their way back to Harry’s actual house, and spend the day watching silly Disney movies to keep Lily and the twins entertained while Lottie and Fizzy watch Gossip Girl, and Gemma, Anne and Jay chat in the kitchen. At one stage, when Daisy and Phoebe both have to run off to the bathroom (apparently they can’t even do  _that_ separately) Lily beams up at Louis, from her place in his lap.

“You guys never told me how much  _better_ the Disney movies from this time period are. They’re so awful back in my time,” she says, and Harry laughs.

“Can’t go wrong with the classics,” he agrees. “Hey- did a Finding Nemo 2 ever come out? I’ve been hearing about it for a while, but-”

“I'm not supposed to tell you, but- I really can't see how an animated movie could change the future, so; yes,” Lily says, rolling her eyes. “And it was awful. Don’t go see it- better yet, don’t make  _me_ watch it, alright?”

Louis laughs, and she snuggles back down on his lap, resting her head on his chest. “Promise,” he agrees, just before Phoebe and Daisy race into the room, one beating the other by a second.

“I win!” one of them cries out. The other one huffs, and crosses her arms. “That means  _I_ get to sit on Harry’s lap, and  _you_ have to sit on the floor!” the first one teases.

The other twin glares at her. “ _Daisy_ ,” Phoebe whines, drawing out the word so it sounds like more than two syllables, in only the way that little kids can. “That’s not fair!”

“Is so!” Daisy argues.

“Girls, I’ve been told I have a pretty big lap, and if Louis can manage to squeeze his big bum on it, I’m sure you both can fit,” Harry calls out, eager to stop them from arguing.

Daisy and Phoebe light up and both bounce over to him, each sitting on one leg. They’re silent for a moment, clearly very happy with the arrangement, before Daisy giggles. “Louis  _does_ have a big bum,” she agrees, causing everyone (bar Louis) to burst out laughing.

“How very dare you,” Louis says, shooting a fake glare at his youngest sisters. “My bum is of perfectly natural size, thank you very much."

“You’re welcome,” the twins chorus, which sets them and Lily off again, laughing until tears are literally streaming down their faces.

“Rude,” Louis huffs. Harry grins, and reaches an arm over to hold Louis’ hand gently.

“I think your bum is lovely,” he jokes. Louis’ eyes look up, and soften instantly when he meet’s Harrys.

“As you should,” he sniffs, squeezing his hand.

*

“So, what do you think of Lily?” Anne questions, back in the kitchen. Jay frowns slightly, and shrugs.

“She seems lovely. She’s a lot like Louis was, at her age. Though she seems to be entirely more mature than he’s ever been,” she adds, sighing.

“She’s very talented,” Anne notes gently, sipping her tea. “Did you see the video Felicity posted  on Twitter last night? Of Lily and the boys singing?”

Jay nods her head. “She also showed me another one, of them singing one of the songs from the new album. She couldn’t post that one, though, of course. You’re right, actually, she is extremely talented, especially considering her young age.”

“Was hers and Lou’s father very musical?” Gemma questions, curious.

“No- and that’s the strange thing. He never really liked music at all, and he certainly couldn’t hold a tune to save his life, much less make a career out of it,” Jay explains.

“Very strange,” Gemma agrees, nodding slightly, her eyes shining. 

“I do hope Harry doesn’t mind the imposition,” Jay says. “I mean- Louis at least has a blood relation to her, and he would never have even  _dreamed_ of saying no to her mother- whoever she may be- but Harry’s only eighteen, hardly old enough to be partly responsible for a child.”

“He doesn’t mind at all,” Anne confirms. “Harry loves children, and seems to have taken a special fondness to Lily. Probably because she’s a lot like him, as well as Louis, actually.”

“How have they been with her, from what you’ve seen? I mean- they all get along all right?” Jay worries.

Gemma nods enthusiastically. “They get along great. It’s like they’re a proper little family, actually. Lily looks up to them both, and they seem to be taking fantastic care of her.”

“I’ve always had some suspicions that Harry loved Louis- well, really it's been quite obvious for a long time, what with how they look at each other, and all,” Anne begins, slowly speaking the words. “But seeing him interact with Lily these last few days has just confirmed it. The way him and Louis act around each other- it’s, it’s-”

“Real,” Gemma supplies. “As I said, they’re like a family. I think having Lily around has just strengthened Harry’s love for Louis, and the family they could have some day.”

“L-love?” Jay stutters, looking shocked. “You must be joking. Louis is with Eleanor.”

Gemma sighs. “That doesn’t mean that Harry can’t love him- or that he can’t love Harry, for that matter.”

Anne reaches out and pats Jay’s shaking hand. “You didn’t know? I could have sworn.”

“No, I didn’t. Um. Does Louis- return these feelings?” she manages to get out, her voice barely above a whisper. Gemma and Anne share a look, before shrugging.

“I haven’t figured that little detail out yet,” Gemma admits. “I don’t think Louis has either, if we're being completely honest here.”

“Oh,” Jay comments, before they all fall into silence.

“Mum, mum, you have got to see this!” Lottie calls, rushing into the kitchen. “Harry, Louis, Lily and the twins fell asleep watching a movie!”

“They look like the guy who plays Barney on  _How I Met Your Mother_  and his husband and kids,” Fizzy informs her, grinning. “We took photo’s as well! Look!” she says, handing over her phone. Harry and Louis are lying on the fold out couch, hands still intertwined- though it’s blurry, and difficult to tell- with the twins piled on Harry’s lap, and Lily fast asleep on Louis’.

“Oh, they’re adorable,” Gemma coos. “Can you send me this please?” she questions, smiling happily when Fizzy nods.  Seconds later Gemma’s phone buzzes, and she instantly brings up the picture, posting it to Twitter straight away, captioning it with  _these sleeping beautys (and harry and louis) fell asleep on the couch!_ _  
_

“They’re going to kill you,” Lottie comments when she sees what Gemma’s doing. "Louis hates pictures of himself sleeping."

Gemma grins. “Probably, but it’s worth it, don’t you think?”

*

When Harry wakes up later, it’s to a mouthful of blonde hair, and a crick in his neck. He stretches out slightly- without disturbing the sleeping twins, still lying on top of him- and smiles happily when he notices that his hand is still joined with Louis’.

“You really do love him, huh?” Harry’s head snaps up to where Gemma is standing at the doorway, smiling softly at him. Harry’s silent for a moment, not knowing exactly how to answer the question. “You don’t have to answer. I already know.”

Harry sighs, and locks eyes with his sister. “There was a time- before Eleanor, and after Hannah- that I thought maybe he loved me back. I guess I was wrong.”

“I’m not so sure you were,” Gemma comments. “Have you ever even  _told_ him?” She questions, causing Harry to snort, and Gemma smiles slightly. “Okay. Obviously  _not_ , but- you’re not very discreet Haz.”

“I tried to- after he ended things with Hannah, but then Eleanor came along, and. He asked me, you know? Asked what I thought of her, and if I thought she was good enough for him, or whatever. I remember wanting to say  _no_ , wanting to tell him that nobody would ever be good enough for him, really. Even I'm not, probably. But.”

“But you didn’t,” Gemma says quietly, walking over and sitting on the couch arm.

“No,” Harry sighs. “I didn’t. Instead, I told him that she seemed lovely, and of course they’d be a nice couple. He- he almost didn't call her back, after the first date, but- I _encouraged_ him. Of all the _stupid_ things I've done-”

“Why can’t you tell him now? He’s on a break with Eleanor, isn’t he? At least, that's what Niall told me. Maybe that’s a sign that you shouldn’t give up,” Gemma persists.

Harry lets out a small, bitter laugh. “I already gave up Gem. I gave up my love for him, when  _she_ came into the picture. And the worst part is- she’ll never know it. She comes on tour, and acts like I'm just a jealous little kid, who has no  _real_ reason to hate her, like she didn’t take him away from me, and- I just want her to know that when she’s the one sitting on his lap, or sleeping in his arms, and he’s telling her that he  _loves_ her, that- that  _I’m_ the one that put her there. And I only did it because I thought that it would make him happy.”

“Oh Harry,” Gemma murmurs, reaching out to pet his curls. “Maybe you-”

“Don’t,” Harry whispers harshly. “Gem- you can’t  _fix_ this, alright? We’re not meant to be together.”

“But how do you  _know_ that?” Gemma presses.

“Because of Lily, that’s how!” Harry snaps. Gemma’s eyes narrow.

“How would his  _sister_ have anything to do with you ‘knowing’ you aren’t supposed to be with him?” she questions, eyeing him. Harry groans.

“I can’t tell you, alright? I just know. Louis isn’t gay, and he doesn’t love me; not the way I love him. I’ve accepted it, why can’t you?”

“Because Harry, I see the way he looks at you,” Gemma say, standing up. “Like you’re the sun, moon, stars,  _his whole world_ , and he’s never looked at Eleanor that way, not  _once_. And hey, maybe you’re right, maybe you  _won’t_ end up together. But it won’t be because you don’t  _love each other_ enough, it’ll be because you’re both stubborn  _twats_ , who can’t admit it,” she snaps, before turning on her heals, and storming off.

Harry loves Gemma, he really does. But sometimes he has an urge to scream at her to shut up, because she’s  _wrong_ , because she’s giving him hope, and hope is a  _dangerous_  thing when it comes to Louis.

*

“How’s Eleanor? I haven’t seen her in a while now,” Jay comments, stirring the sauce for the Satay Chicken she's making for dinner, to give Anne a chance to spend time with Harry, Lily and her girls.

“She’s alright, I suppose,” Louis replies. “Actually- she’s not, probably. We’re on a bit of break at the moment,” he admits.

Jay blinks at him. “A break? What happened Lou?” Louis looks out the kitchen window to where Harry is playing football with his sisters and Gemma and Anne.

“She’s not the one, I don't think,” Louis replies back. “I can’t imagine spending forever with her, and- if I can’t picture that, if I can’t even  _want_  that, then what’s the point? It’ll just hurt me- and her- worse, in the long run.”

Jay nods slightly, and goes back to stirring the sauce. “Is- is there anyone that you  _do_ see remaining in your life?”

Louis has an urge to say  _Harry and Lily_ , and he suddenly wants to tell him mum everything, about Lily and he real identity and that he's going to be with Harry one day, and that Lily is  _there's_ and he wants his mum to look at Lily and feel proud- the way he does. But he  _can’t_ , so. “The boys, really. And Stan, I suppose. Even if he is a bit of a twat sometimes, and beats me at footy all the time.” Jay lets out a little laugh, and Louis smiles. “I mean- Harry and the other boys are the only ones who understand this life, and whatever. They’ve been there for everything, you know? They’re family. Even if the band breaks up, I don’t think we ever will.”

“It must be nice to know that they’re always going to be around,” Jay muses.

Louis nods silently.  “Yeah, it really is.”

“So- this, um,  _break_ , with Eleanor. How permanent is it? She’s a lovely girl Louis, and she loves you. I was under the impression that you loved her as well.”

Louis shrugs. “I’m not so sure that ether of those things are true anymore.”

"Are you going to break up with her?" Jay asks, still looking confused.

Louis shrugs again. "I don't know. I think I probably have to, if I don't love her anymore."

"I think that love is hard, and- sometimes it doesn't always seem as though it's worth it," Jay says softly. "Sometimes you have to fight for it. Even if you don't think you want to."

Louis levels his mum with a  _look_. "And sometimes, it's just  _not_ worth it, and you have to let it go before you turn out hating the other person. I learnt that from you and Mark." Jay recoils as though slapped. "But then you met Dan, and now when you smile, it's real. I want that mum. I want someone who can turn all my bad moods into good ones just by  _blinking_ , and Eleanor isn't doing that for me."

Jay nods, tears in her eyes as she turns back to the oven. "Just be happy, okay?" she commands. Louis' shoulders sag.

"I'm trying mum, I really am."

*

**HAVE LOUIS AND ELEANOR BROKEN UP??**

23 September 12  
By: Sarah Dimspy   
Liked it?

**AND WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR LARRY STYLINSON?**

There’s been a lot of rumours lately that Louis Tomlinson and his lovely lady friend Eleanor Calder have split! I know, I know, we’re still in shock too. We can cry together- you bring the snacks, we’ll supply the tissues! So far, neither of them have commented on this alleged break up, but one of El’s gal pals tweeted about a girls night in, with ice cream and lots of sad movies, because someone needed cheering up (ahem, we're looking at you, Miss Calder). And a fan managed to snap a picture of Eleanor buying tissues and chocolate at a shop in Manchester, looking very depressed.

While Eleanor is clearly mourning the loss of Elounor (*sniff*) Louis seems to be in high spirits! One of his many sisters- we've lost count, actually. If someone could draw us a chart maybe, that'd be helpful!- posted a video of Louis, Harry, and Louis’ half-sister Lily singing  _Hallelujah._ And by golly, they did a fantastic job of it! Gemma (Harry’s lovely older sister) also tweeted a picture of Harry, Louis, Lily and Louis’ twin sisters, Daisy and Phoebe, all asleep on the couch together- and it looks like Harry and Louis are holding hands, _gasp_!

What does this mean? Has ‘Elounor’ really split up? Is Larry Stylinson on? Will Zayn be kicked out of the band only for Lily to replace him? Let us know in the comments below!

Click NEXT for the photos and videos.

*

“We’re trending on Twitter again,” Lily informs Harry and Louis over lunch the next day.

“Oh, goody, what are they this time?” Louis asks, looking over her shoulder.  _Larry_  is the number one world-wide trend, with  _Lily_  coming in a close second.

“Is that  _Stylinson Family_?” Harry asks, pointing at the last one. “That one’s cute.”

Louis beams at him. “I quite like it. I’ve been thinking it’s about time this Larry Stylinson fellow starts pulling his weight in the band, actually. He’s the most popular one of us all- besides your curls of course Harry, don’t get in a tiff- and he never even  _does_ anything. How dare he?”

Harry rolls his eyes at Louis’ slightly -extremely- stupid ‘joke,’ but lets out a little laugh anyway, because he knows from experience that if he doesn’t, Louis will just keep talking until someone laughs.

“Very rude of him,” Harry agrees, smiling when Louis laughs in delight.

“Daddy, I’m bored,” Lily complains, handing Harry his phone back.

“Should have gone shopping with Mum, Anne and the girls then,” Louis replies. Lily glares at him.

“Well I didn’t want to then. But now I do,” she decides. “Only- I hid my money in the closet in the hall, because Phoebe and Daisy kept hiding it from me. Will you go get it?” she requests, smiling angelically at her father, who groans and rolls his eyes, but goes off to look for it all the same.

“My money, you mean,” Harry corrects, laughing when Lily just shrugs in response.

“Details,” she says, waving her hand.

“I don’t see any money!” Louis calls out from the hallway. “Where did you even  _put_ it?”

Lily looks at Harry, and shrugs. “It’s just on the shelf in there, I don't know how he's missing it. Can you go help him, while I get changed? We'll save time that way,” she suggests. Harry shrugs and goes off in the same direction as Louis.

“Harry my dear friend, I think Lily has gone off the deep end,” Louis informs him, when they still haven’t found the money minutes later.

“Maybe Daisy and Phoebe took it,” Harry shrugs. “Let’s go ring them, or something,” he suggests, reaching down to open the closet door.

He tries to turn the handle, but it doesn’t move. “Louis,” Harry says quietly. “I don’t mean to alarm you, but I believe that your charming daughter has locked us in the closet.”

Louis looks up at Harry in shock, before dissolving in peals of laughter. His daughter had locked him in a  _closet_. With his best mate that he ends up marrying and having said daughter with. A  _closet_. Oh, the irony. “Oh, she would,” he grumbles, when he manages to make himself stop laughing.

“Why would she do that?” Harry asks, smiling slightly.

“Because she’s pure evil mate,” Louis says, grinning. “She's half of me- so let's be honest, it's a miracle she hasn't pulled something like this earlier. Lily, come on sweetie, let us out, jokes over!” he suddenly hollers, banging on the door.

“You know, I don’t think I’ll do that,” Lily’s voice answers, softer than usual, because it's coming through the door. “I think I like you two a lot better when you’re locked in there, all out of sight and stuff. Plus, I found my money. It was in my pocket the whole time, can you imagine that!”

Louis glares at the door. “When we get out of here, I am going to kill her,” he cheerfully informs Harry. “Lily, let us out!”

Lily’s tinkling laughter makes him groan. She’s never going to let him out. “Nah, I’m good,” she calls out. “Plus, Gemma’s here now, and I’m gonna go shopping with the girls. Bye Dad! Bye Harry, have fun!”

“Lily, I swear to God-” Louis calls out, before he’s interrupted by the slamming of the door. “Oh, that little b-”

“Louis!” Harry scolds. “Don’t be mean!”

"I was just gonna call her a  _brat_ ," Louis grumbles.

"Still mean," Harry returns.

“Mean?” Louis asks, disbelief evident on his face. “Mean is locking us in a closet and then leaving the house!”

“Lou, she’s  _your_  kid, honestly, what did you expect?” Harry asks, a bemused smile on his face.

“I  _expected_ her to not lock me in a closet!” Louis whines. “She didn’t even leave us any food or water! And what if we need to pee? Harry, we’re going to  _die_ in here!”

“Louis?” Harry says.

“Yes Harold?”

“It’s a closet Lou. We could break down the door if we really needed."

"But what if-"

"Louis?" Harry interuppts again.

"Yes Harry?" Louis sighs.

"Shut up," Harry instructs.

“Oh, okay,” Louis sighs, and slides to the ground. “Well, might as well make ourselves comfortable. God knows how long we’ll be here.”

Harry’s phone buzzes as he joins Louis on the ground, and he opens it to a twitter-pic sent from Lottie’s Twitter account, with Gemma, Lottie, Fizzy, the twins and Lily all smiling into the camera. “What’s it say?” Louis asks.

“ _Having a girls day shopping! Hope harry and lou liked their surprise!!_ ” Harry reads out, in an awful impression of a girl’s voice.

“That’s just cruel,” Louis whines.

“Let’s send them a picture back,” Harry suggests. “Maybe a fangirl will see and she can break in here and let us out.”

Louis laughs, delighted at the idea, and Harry holds his phone up, snapping a picture of them both pouting, and trying to look very sad. “What are you writing with it?” Louis questions. Harry hands the phone over to him, and Louis reads it for himself.

**@harry_styles: lily locked us in a closet :( #help**

“Someone better come save us,” Louis huffs, resting his head on Harry’s shoulder. Harry smiles softly, letting his head fall onto Louis’s, as they watch the tweets pour in. “Oh, we’re trending again,” Louis says, pointing.

 **Worldwide Trends**  
larry Stylinson  
larry is ON  
lily Stylinson  
#letthemoutmanagement  
#larryisaBROmancee  
louis and harry  
#directionersloveeleanor  
lily  
#elounorvlarry  
eleanor calder

“Oh and we’re all of the trends,” Harry notices.

“Well- Lily and Eleanor are half of them,” Louis says. “But- yeah. Wow.”

Harry sighs. “Management aren’t going to be too happy with us, are they?”

“Who cares?” Louis responds, his eyes darkening. “They’re a bunch of sodding twats anyway.”

“Sodding twats that pay for everything we own,” Harry points out.

“Right,” Louis says. “Well. The point is-”

“They’re sodding twats,” Harry fills in. “Got it,” he says, and they smile at each other.

They play a boring couple of games of  _tic tac toe_ on some scrap paper Harry finds in one of the boxes, with two lipsticks Louis finds in a purse, but neither of them win any of the games, so they quickly tire of it. "Harry, I'm  _bored_ ," Louis whines, causing Harry to roll his eyes.

"It was  _your_ daughter who locked us in here Lou, which means you're at least half to blame," he tells him, and Louis sighs.

"Well you're the other half then," he protests, and Harry frowns slightly. "And anyway, I would never encourage her to do something this  _stupid_. 

"It's been fifteen minutes Lou," Harry reminds him. "I'm sure you'll survive."

Louis huffs loudly. "Fifteen minutes of my life,  _wasted_ , Harry! I'm going to wither away at this rate."

Harry rolls his eyes. "Excuse you, no minute with me is ever wasted," he complains, and Louis grins.

"Well, I suppose not," he agrees. "But if I have to spend more than sixty of them locked in here, then  _wasted_."

Harry smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/slytherinlarry_) and [tumblr](http://slytherin-larrie.tumblr.com).


	10. Chapter 10

"Never have I ever read a fan flick," Louis says, grinning evilly at Harry.

"You suck," Harry pouts, and makes a note on his scrap of paper. "And it's fan _fic_ , honestly Lou. Short for fanfiction? As in, not real."

"It's not my fault that you spend your evenings reading thousands of words that teenage girls write," Louis responds. “And like I care, _honestly_ Haz.”

Harry glares at his best friend, who just smiles back at him. "Sometimes they're boys, thank you very much."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. That's just one more shot you'll have to drink when we get out of this freaking closet," Louis sighs. "Which will be never, by the way. Because our child is an evil little human being."

Harry coughs. "Um. Our? Last time I checked, she was your kid, mate, not mine."

Louis' eyes widen and he nods in agreement. "Right. Of course. You couldn't create a child as beautiful as Lily anyway, not with that ugly mug."

"You know, I'd take offence to that, except- well, gotta give credit where credit is due. Lily _is_  beautiful, and she looks just like you," Harry says, and Louis blushes slightly. Harry had just kind of called him beautiful.

"Yeah, well, can't take all the credit, can I now?" Louis mumbles back, before shaking his head, as if to clear his head (and get rid of the  _Harry Harry Harry_  that was pounding in his heart).

“Any by the way Lou, you _have_ read a fan fic. I remember, because you couldn’t look Niall in the eye for a _week_ ,” Harry says, smirking.

Louis’ mouth falls open in protest. “Liam was _screwing_ him on _our_ kitchen counter! It was the scariest thing I’ve ever read in my entire _life_.”

Harry’s smirk doesn’t leave his face as he winks at Louis. “Sounds kinda hot actually. Bet it got you hard, right Lou?”

Louis blushes, and pointedly looks away from Harry, refusing the meet his eyes. “I prefer Liam and Zayn, actually,” he sniffs, ignoring Harry’s laugh. “Can you please call Lily now, and demand that she let us out of here? Pull the dad card if you have to.”

“Only you can use that card Lou, I’m just- her uncle, person I guess,” Harry mumbles, dialing Gemma’s number. “Gem? Hey it’s me,” Harry says into the phone.

“Harry of course- it’s my number that’s calling you Gemma, honestly,” Harry continues, rolling his eyes at Louis, who smiles in return. “No, I wouldn’t let a fan get close enough to steal my phone, don’t be stupid. Why would they want to call you anyhow? I’m the famous one, idiot. Look- Gem- bloody hell Gemma, just put Lily on the phone, _please_ ,” Harry says angrily, glaring into his phone. “Women,” he mutters to Louis, who laughs.

“Put it on loudspeaker,” Louis commands, and Harry obeys immediately.

“Hey Lily, it’s Harry.”

“And your dad,” Louis chips in.

“Hi Daddy, hi Harry!” Lily replies, her voice happy and excited. “Gemma got me a dress, and Lottie got me and the twins some makeup!”

“You’re _nine_ ,” Harry and Louis say at the same time, exasperation evident in both their tones.

“Well now I’m a nine year old who has makeup,” Lily says, and Louis can almost _hear_ her shrugging. “Anyway- what did you want?”

“To be let out of this closet, for starters,” Louis grumbles.

“Oh, but you _like_ closets, right Daddy?” Lily says, her voice sweet as sugar. Louis glares into the phone, and shrugs when Harry looks at him curiously.

“Lily, for god sakes, let us out. This isn’t funny anymore,” he tells her.

“I found it quite hilarious actually,” she responds, before sighing. “But I suppose you can come out now. There’s a key in the pocket of the yellow jacket hanging up in there. It’ll open the door.”

Harry stands up and searches in the pockets of the (hideous) yellow jacket hanging up, while Louis continues to glare at the phone. “You have _got_ to be kidding me Lily.”

Lily lets out a small giggle, and Louis almost forgives her entirely. Her laugh sounds just like Harry’s did- back before his voice broke and got all gravelly. “Sorry Daddy!”

Louis sighs. He is _so_ whipped. “It’s okay silly. Hurry home okay baby? We miss you.” Harry’s unlocking the door, but turns to smile softly at Louis when Lily replies with, “I love you too. Both of you! Bye bye!”

Louis hangs up the phone, and hands it back to Harry, who slips it into his pocket. “I wonder if I have one, in the future. A kid, I mean,” and his smile has dropped, and the light in his eyes has dimmed, and Louis wants to tell him, to say _you do, and she’s perfect, she’s just like you, but she’s like me too, which she somehow managed to work in her favour, and you love her Haz, trust me_ , but he can’t. “I think I’d like one,” Harry continues. “A little girl, like Lily maybe.”

Louis smiles at his feet, because- _if only he knew_. “I bet you do. And she’ll have curly hair and sparkling green eyes, and if she’s anything like Lily, she’ll be a monster as well.”

Harry smiles back at Louis, and this is his Louis smile, his you-light-up-my-world-like-nobody-else smile. “And her and Lily will be best friends forever and grow old together, with a lot of cats, right?”

Louis nods his head in agreement, taking Harry’s hand, and leading him out of the closet- finally. “Definitely. And they’ll never speak to a boy, _ever_ , except for Niall, Zayn and Li, maybe. Probably not Niall.”

“Agreed,” Harry says, squeezing his hand.

*

Later that night, Harry and Louis are curled up in a bed at the bungalow together- Lily refused to come with them, claiming that it was safer for her if she wasn’t alone with them, especially after the closet stunt, and Louis agreed, at least a little bit (he mainly just liked the idea of being alone with Harry, and was going to take full advantage of it)- drinking tea and watching reruns of _Friends_. It’s the episode where they all imagine what life would have been like if _one little thing_ hadn’t occurred. If Rachel hadn’t run away at her wedding, if Monica hadn’t gotten skinny, if Ross had stayed with- Susan, or Carol, or whichever one was his lesbian wife.

“Sometimes I wonder what would have happened, if we didn’t get put in a band,” Harry says. Louis looks up at him, and Harry shrugs slightly.  “I mean- in the end, all of the _friends_ got together, still. Like. I wonder if we would have all met.”

Louis blinks, and thinks it over. “I think so. You’re like- we’re Joey and Chandler, right? And Liam is like a mix of Monica and Ross and Niall is Phoebe, probably. Which leaves Zayn as Rachel.”

“How is Zayn anything like Rachel?” Harry questions, a bemused smile on his face. Louis kind of wants to kiss him.

“They both have nice hair,” he says stupidly. Because his brain apparently doesn’t work when Harry’s lips look all soft and kissable. Harry laughs anyway, and Louis feels his eyes crinkle in response. “Anyway, they all end up being friends in the end, and Monica and Chandler get together, and Ross and Rachel have a _moment_.”

“Wait, am I Joey or Chandler?” Harry asks, frowning. Louis mulls this over.

“Joey,” he decides. “Because you’re better looking.”

Harry blushes, but then frowns again. “Wait, so you hook up with Liam then?”

Louis thinks for a second, before sighing. “Okay, maybe we’re nothing like the _friends_ people. Point is- yes, I think we would have all become friends even if we hadn’t gotten put in a band. I gave you my number, in the bathroom, remember?” Harry nods, and Louis tilts his head, thinking. “Would you have ever used it, if we hadn’t gotten through?”

Harry nods again, and Louis smiles. “I was already planning on exactly what to say to you,” he admits shyly. “I just didn’t know if I’d have to use the ‘we’re both losers who didn’t get in, but let’s still be friends,’ approach or the ‘we’re both contestants, and we’re gonna have to compete against each other, but let’s be friends anyway,’ line.”

“But we’d be friends either way?” Louis questions, his voice small. Harry nods, and pulls Louis closer.

“Always, Lou,” he whispers. Louis feels so small in his arms, in the best way possible.

 _Always_ , he repeats in his head. He could get used to that word.

(That night, Louis dreams of a world where he isn’t famous, where he never tried out for X Factor, instead he stayed in school, and got his degree, and eventually became a drama teacher. He meets Harry during all this, of course, because Louis isn’t Louis without Harry. It could happen different ways- they meet at a football game, when they both want to buy the last pie, and end up sharing it instead, or they meet at a bar, with music thumping in their ears, and alcohol pumping through their veins, but in his dream, it doesn’t happen either of those ways; instead it happens slow, and steady.

Harry works at a small coffee shop, and Louis is a Uni student who lives on coffee, so of course, they see each other every day. They fall in love slowly- over large cups of coffee and long nights and even longer text books. But when it finally happens- when Louis finally gets to kiss the lips he’s been dreaming of since day one, it’s worth it.

When Louis wakes up, tired and sleepy at one in the morning, he groggily thinks Harry will always be worth the wait.)

*

There are only three things that Harry is sure of at the moment, and that’s a fucked up thought, because he’s been sure of pretty much everything since he was ten years old, and realised that he was somewhat different than everyone in Holmes Chapel, and he’d be getting out of there one day.

Number one, Louis is his best friend, and basically the only reason this entire bloody life hasn’t driven him off the deep end. Number two, he loves being in One Direction, and he’d never do anything to risk it, but Louis comes first, _always_. And number three, while Lily is one of the worst things to have ever happened to him, because she’s living proof that Louis is straight and probably (definitely) not into Harry, she’s also the absolute best, and he loves her, no matter who her mother is.

(Except he can’t bear to even _think_ about who it could possibly be, and-)

*

“It’s been almost a week,” Harry says the next morning, in between sips of the tea Louis had made him.

Louis raises an eyebrow. “Since what?”

“Since we came here,” Harry clarifies. “We probably have to leave tomorrow night. We have to go back to record _They Don’t Know About Us_ \- which, by the way, I still don’t know why we’re singing- and film the _Little Things_ video. Management was ringing me this morning to yell at me.”

Louis frowns. “Why didn’t they ring me? I’m the oldest one. Which makes me the leader, and in charge, kind of.”

“Because you annoy them,” Harry rolls his eyes. “And I don’t, apparently.”

“But you record in only your _pants_ ,” Louis protests. “How could that not annoy them?”

Harry smirks. “I’ve been told I have nice legs, so maybe that’s why.”

Louis purposefully avoids looking at the stupid smirk on Harry’s stupid face because he _does_ have nice legs, and Louis has not noticed at all.

(Except he has, maybe. Only a little bit.)

“That’s no excuse,” he grumbles. “And I _told_ you Harry, we’re singing _They Don’t Know About Us_ because Lily likes it better and said it was supposed to be on the album.”

“Whatever,” Harry says. “We’ve got today and tomorrow, so what do you want to do? I mean. There’s not much interesting here.”

“Plus it’s raining,” Louis says, looking out the window. “How about a movie marathon?”

Harry beams at Louis, and Louis wants to punch something, because Harry is literally a two year old and Louis is kind off maybe into him and-. Ugh. “Harry Potter?” Harry asks, a hopeful look in his eyes.

Louis had watched the entire Harry Potter series about three weeks ago, and really didn’t want to watch any of them again and he’s going to tell Harry exactly that.

“Of course,” is what he finds himself saying instead.

(He's never been able to say _no_ to Harry, who is he kidding?)

They ring up Gemma and an hour later, her, Lily and Louis' sisters are all tumbling into the bungalow, snacks and drinks weighing them down. "We brought crisps and soft drink," one of the twins announces, a crazed look in her eyes.

"And Gemma got us sour worms," the other one adds on, talking even louder. "And lots of other sugary lollies!"

Harry and Louis groan simultaneously. "Gem, you  _didn't_ ," Harry moans. "You know what sugar does to kids, honestly!"

Gemma laughs, and shrugs her shoulders. "Well, I'm not staying," she informs them. "I've gotta go meet Ashley for brunch, so I didn't really have any issues with pumping them full of sugar before dumping them on you."

The twins and Lily giggle, all munching on lollies, as Lottie and Fizzy roll their eyes. "Please take me with you," Lottie begs Gemma, who grins and ruffles her hair.

"No can do Lots, today is grown up girl time. But I'll be back in a couple hours to save you," Gemma promises, and Lottie sighs.

"We'll all be dead by then," Fizzy remarks. "Or- at least I'm hoping, anyway."

Lily, Daisy and Phoebe all laugh and rush into the living room, yelling goodbyes at Gemma who leaves after kissing Fizzy's cheek with another promise to be back soon. "You better calm them all down, or else I'm going to go drown myself in the pool," Fizzy threatens, glaring at Harry and Louis, who both pale. "And I'll take Lottie with me, and then you'll have  _two_ deaths on your hands."

Lottie sniffs. "I'll probably pass on that, as I don't want to ruin my hair," she declines, causing Harry to laugh.

"What a shame," Louis deadpans, and Lottie hits his arm before following him and Harry into the living room where the twins and Lily have already opened  _every single bag_ of lollies and crisps. "Have you seen Harry Potter, Lily?" he asks taking a seat next to her.

Lily rolls her eyes and leans into Louis' side, lowering her voice. "You  _named_ me for one of the characters Daddy," she reminds him, after she makes sure none of the other girls are listening. "I'd read the books and seen all the movies before I was  _seven_."

"Nobody can read a Harry Potter book at seven," Harry interrupts, having overheard them. "That's like- genius level, that is."

Lily rolls her eyes. "Just because everyone is smarter than you two, doesn't make them genius'," she drawls, causing all of Louis' sisters to laugh.

"Oh shut up and play the bloody movie," Louis commands, throwing a pillow in the twins' direction, making them giggle even harder when he misses by a mile.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/slytherinlarry_) and [tumblr](http://slytherin-larrie.tumblr.com).


	11. Chapter 11

After two more relaxing days in Holmes Chapel, filled with Harry Potter marathons and baking sessions, Louis' helps his mum and sisters pack the car up, and after the twins run around like mad making sure they've hugged everyone- including Anne's cat- goodbye, they finally pile into the car, and Louis know's they'll be asleep probably before Jay even pulls out of the driveway. Lottie and Fizzy are more quiet with their goodbyes, both kissing Anne and Gemma's cheeks, before hugging Lily and Harry goodbye (Lottie blushing the entire time, as Louis notes that she's not entirely over her crush on him), but when they hug Louis, the both squeeze him so hard he loses his breath.

"Visit soon, please," Lottie tells him, and Fizzy nods her head, arms still wrapped around Louis.

"Don't forget us," she adds, and Louis feels tears pricking in his eyes. 

"I promise I wont," he murmurs, kissing both their heads before they climb into the car, leaving just Jay standing there. She's already said her goodbyes to Anne and Gemma, and quickly kisses Lily's head, before hugging Harry gently, and then she turns to Louis as Harry quietly follows his mum and sister, Lily trailing along beside him, back into the house.

"I love you Boo," she tells him, hugging him tightly. "I had a chat with Anne, and Gemma just before, and- I love you no matter what, alright? If you aren't happy with Eleanor, don't stay with her. I just want you to be happy, whoever you're with, or whatever you're doing."

Louis blinks back tears and hugs her back even tighter. "Love you too mum," he whispers in her ear. She kisses his cheek, and wipes away a stray tear. "I'll visit soon, promise," he mumbles, and she nods.

"You better," she jokingly threatens, hugging him one last time before she turns to get in the car. As she drives off, all of his sisters hanging out the window and waving goodbye, Lily comes up behind him, slipping her hand into his.

“You’ll see them soon Daddy, don’t worry,” Lily says softly, squeezing his hand in comfort. “And even if you don’t, because of the band, there’s Skype and phone calls and emails and everything. Just because someone is far away doesn’t mean you can’t be close with them.”

Louis grins slightly, and leans down to look Lily in the eye. “When did you get so smart?”

Lily smiles, smug. “Probably when I first started going to school, and got away from your influence,” she teases. Louis hears a loud laugh from inside Harry’s house, and realises that he’s been watching this entire time, probably hoping that Louis would be okay, and ready to be there in case he wasn’t.

He’s surprised to find that this doesn’t really surprise him. Harry was always overly caring, even to the point of annoyance sometimes.

“I love you,” he says, looking at Lily, his voice loud and clear. He hopes Harry realises he’s not just speaking to his daughter in this moment, but his whole family.

*

An hour later, Louis and Harry have finished packing all of their things into their own car, and after Lily has gone to the bathroom three times, they decide to head off.

“Thank you again for letting us stay Anne, it’s been a lovely week,” Louis says, hugging Harry’s mum, who smiles warmly at him.

“Of course Lou, you know you’re welcome anytime,” she says, hugging him back. “And you can always bring your lovely sister; she’s such a joy to be around!”

Louis rolls his eyes. "Which one?" he jokes, and Anne swats his arm.

"They're  _all_ lovely," she amends. "Though, I admit I was speaking of Lily." Louis looks over to where Lily is hugging Gemma goodbye while Harry hovers near them, waiting his turn. “Look after my son Lou,” Anne says quietly, following his gaze. “He’s a smart boy, but- when it comes to love- sorry, when it comes to _you_ ; he’s always been a bit reckless with his heart. Please try not to break it. I don’t want to see him hurting.”

Louis blinks at her, before nodding slowly. “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that I don’t do that,” he promises, smiling gently. “I don’t like seeing him hurting either.”

Anne smiles again, and squeezes his hand as Harry comes over to hug his mum goodbye.

Gemma’s approach is a lot different than her mum’s, that’s for sure. “Break his heart and I’ll break your face, alright?” is the first thing she says to him when he goes over to hug her. Louis is a bit shocked, but then not at all.

“Got it,” he says, because it seems like a fair agreement. When they hug, Gemma squeeze’s him tighter than ever before.

*

Lily falls asleep within the first thirty minutes of the car ride home, and Harry looks well on his way to joining her, if the way his eyes keep drooping is anything to go by. “You can sleep, if you want,” Louis offers, keeping his eyes firmly on the road. “I’m still good for a couple more hours, and I’ll pull over if I get tired or whatever. You should nap, now, while you can, considering we have to go straight in to record the _Little Things_ video when we get back.”

Harry smiles, and Louis risks glancing away from the road to look at him, and then almost instantly regrets it when he realises just how much he loves that smile. It's a smile that could cause car crashes, honestly.

“I should be fine,” Harry shrugs. “We haven’t really done much but sleep this whole week anyway, it’s just car rides make me tired is all. Like Lily, I see.”

“She looks so much younger when she sleeps,” Louis comments, glancing at her in the rear view mirror.

“I think it’s her eyes,” Harry notes. “She’s got old eyes, you know? Obviously growing up in the environment she did, she would have had to grow up quickly, but yeah,” he finishes lamely. “When her eyes are closed, she looks like any other regular nine year old girl.”

“Much prettier than all the other nine year olds though,” Louis teases.

“But of course,” Harry agrees, grinning. “With your genes? How could she be anything but the best?”

Louis feels like he has butterflies in his stomach whenever Harry compliments him now. Before, it barely even registered on his radar as anything less than a joking comment from a mate, but now? It’s a whole other story.

“She may have got my  fabulous looks, but her brains- that’s all you mate,” he says, trying to ignore the _thump thump thump_ of his heart in his chest, beating much faster than he’s sure is safe.

*

When they get back to their apartment building, the other three boys are waiting for them in their flat, reading to head off to film  _Little Things_. "It's like we don't have any boundaries," Louis complains, dumping his suitcase on the floor. Lily giggles and rushes over to Zayn, jumping on his lap.

"He means he missed you," she whispers loudly, and Louis glares.

"Why would you say something so ridiculous?" he protests, and Harry laughs next to him. 

"Do we have to go and film straight away?" he questions. "Or can we get something to eat first? Lily hasn't eaten for a couple hours now, and I promised her lunch is all."

"Well, Perrie's down in my flat, and offered to baby sit, if Lily wanted?" he says, smiling down at Lily who beams at him. "I think she was hoping to take you out to lunch with the rest of the girls, as they're all dying to meet you."

Lily leaps off Zayn's lap and makes a beeline for Harry and Louis. "Oh  _please_ can I Daddy? I know you said you would make me lunch, but it's  _Little Mix_ Dad, and just  _please._ I'll do all the dishes when I get home, I promise!" she begs, making all the boys laugh. 

"I guess that's a yes than," Zayn says, standing up. "C'mon, I'll take you down to my flat," he says, and Lily latches on to his hand after hugging Harry and Louis goodbye. "Meet you lot down at the car then?" Zayn says, leading Lily out of the room, and the other boys nod.

"I'll just grab my wallet and stuff, then we can head out," Louis says, and Harry nods, both boys picking their suitcases up and heading to their respective rooms. 

"Do you reckon Lily realises she's related to  _One Direction_?" Liam asks Niall, who just shrugs. " _Little Mix_  are great and all, and I'm glad that Lily loves them, but. Well, she's never that excited to go to lunch with us." Liam sounds a bit put out, and Niall laughs.

"To be fair mate, if you spend a whole lot of time with us, I reckon we're not that exciting anymore. Plus, Louis can be pretty gross and all," Niall says, chewing gum loudly as he talks, and Liam frowns.

"Yeah, it's _Lou_ who's gross, sure," he teases, and Niall slaps his arm.

*

The music video for _Little Things_ , is so far Louis’ favourite. It’s just them, the boys, and the music. It’s exactly what he wants to always be doing. The song is flawless, of course- anything by Ed is- but the distribution of the solo’s is Louis’ favourite thing. Everyone is equal in this song, and best of all, his solo is right before Harry’s, so they’re allowed to sit next to each other in the circle of the group, for the first time in a while.

They have to do a couple of takes of each of the boys solo’s, but when it comes to Louis’ part, he nails it, first shot. According to the director, Zayn looks too moody in the first take of his, and then Liam looks too happy. Louis apparently manages to capture the look of an in love teenage boy perfectly- according to the director.

He smiles at just the right times ( _maybe that’s the reason that you talk in your sleep_ ) because now every lyric he seems to associate with Harry, and their relationship.

When it comes to Harry’s part, he smirks during _you still have to squeeze into your jeans, but you’re perfect to me_ , and it reminds Louis of the time, a couple of weeks ago, before Lily, before he was doubting that he had any un-friendly feelings towards his best friend. He’d been getting ready to go out for dinner with Harry and Niall, and of course, was running late. By the time he’d finally gotten his hair to sit right, he only had time to grab an old shirt and a pair of jeans. Harry had walked in on him trying to do the button up on his jeans, laughing when Louis swore that he hadn’t put this much weight on, and _these jeans are_ new _Harry! I got them last week for godsake,_ and it was probably the last great moment they had together, before the rumours about _Larry Stylinson_ tore them apart a little bit.

Louis wondered if Harry was thinking of this moment when he smiled during the line, but quickly shoved the thought to the back of his mind.

After the filming, they get shown a rough cut of the video, and all instantly decide that they don’t want a polished cut. The rough cut will end up being the one they put online for all their fans, and that’s that.

The director tries to argue with them, saying it looks too ‘amateur like,’ but when Louis pauses it at 2:45, and the screen freezes on Harry smiling, their argument is pretty much cemented.

“This is who we _are_ mate. This is the stuff the fans like. Just us, in a room, being _happy_. And look at the screen- Harry is the essence of happiness.”

Harry beams at him for that, and Louis is glad he let his impulse let over just this once.

(At the 3:30 mark, when he sees that Harry had looked over at him when he sung _it’s you_ , he vows to let his impulse take over more often).

*

That night, Niall, Zayn, Perrie, Liam and Danielle all stay for dinner, and they order Chinese food and Liam is extremely grumpy when he realises that  _Lily_ can use chopsticks better than he can, and Danielle laughs and laughs and Liam picks up a fork and doesn't put it down for the rest of the meal, even after everyone makes complete fools of themselves trying to trap the noodles with chopsticks.

Harry and Louis pulls out and old  _SingStar_ machine Harry had nicked from his mum, and after Perrie beats Liam three songs in a row, he storms out, dragging Danielle behind him, who can't stop giggling behind her fingers. Zayn and Perrie leave soon after, and then after Niall falls asleep on Harry and Louis' couch (they draw a beard and funny eyebrows on him in permanent marker, and after Harry uploads the photos of Lily crouching down near Niall's sleeping form, grinning, it spawns another five trending topic about the _Stylinson Family_ ) they decide to put Lily to bed. She bathes and dresses by herself and then calls them both into her room to say goodnight.

They sing her silly nursery rhymes- at her request- until she falls asleep, and then after they've shut her bedroom door, Harry fiddles with his hair, smiling softly at Louis. "Did you want to come back to my room, maybe, and we could watch some more Friends?" he offers, and Louis smiles, nods shyly, and follows him into his room, after a quick detour to his own to change into his pyjamas. For the sixth night in a row, Louis falls asleep in a bed with Harry, and wakes up to a cooked breakfast with a little girl curled up in his arms. 

Having a family is a bit lovely, he thinks sleepily, as he shoves some perfectly cooked bacon into his mouth. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/slytherinlarry_) and [tumblr](http://slytherin-larrie.tumblr.com).


	12. Chapter 12

When the  _Little Things_ video premiers, six different versions of  _larry is real_ trend for over eighteen hours. Louis' entire twitter feed is filled with screencaps of him and Harry staring at each other, and Louis knew he was going to look like a lovesick fool every second he was on screen, but he didn't quite realise Harry would too. It's this realisation that has him back at Eleanor's door, only an hour after he watches the video for the first time.

She's silent when she opens the door, clearly waiting for Louis to speak. Unfortunately, Louis appears to have lost that ability. 

"I'm sorry," he eventually manages to blurt out. "For everything."

Eleanor raises an eyebrow. "What does 'everything' include?"

Louis sighs, leaning into her door frame. "For leading you on, I suppose. For just- leaving, without an explanation. For not loving you as much as you wanted me to," he adds, frowning. Eleanor blinks rapidly, and Louis prays she doesn't cry. 

"What changed, exactly?" she asks. "I mean- just last month, you told me that you loved me, and now you're here, just- breaking up with me?"

Louis considers this. "Can you honestly see yourself spending the rest of your life with me?" he asks in return. "Because I can't, El. I never have. I don't think I've ever looked at you and imagined what you'd look like in a wedding dress, or giving birth to my child or- I can't even see you being by my side next year, or next month, or-"

"Wow," Eleanor interrupts. "Way to make me feel great Lou, really."

Louis sighs. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad Eleanor, I'm just- trying to tell you how I feel. That's all."

"But you didn't  _feel_ like this until just recently," she protests. "I mean- we were in  _love_ Louis. Maybe- everyone has doubts in relationships, that's normal. But we can work through this, I know it." A tear falls from her left eye, and Louis feels like  _shit_ , okay, because he knows what this is doing to Eleanor, he fucking  _knows_ , but- he also knows that he has to give Harry a chance, because it's been written in the stars since they first met in the bathroom at bootcamp and Louis bumped into Harry on the way out and he owes him this chance, after the stuttered  _oops_ and  _hi_ , and the interview in France on Valentines Day, after all the longing looks across a stage, and all the shared moments in their apartment, and the tearful confessions when Harry worried he wasn't good enough for the band, and- and he owes him this, after everything, and-

"I don't love you anymore," Louis blurts out. 

"Did you ever?" Eleanor returns, and Louis flinches as though slapped. "I mean- do you regret being with me?"

Louis shrugs. "We had some good times," he answers, but the only good times on his mind are the ones that included Harry.

Eleanor sighs. "Yes we did," she replies, and Louis can almost hear her heart breaking as he looks at her. "Do you love Harry?" Louis stays silent, biting his lip, and Eleanor scoffs. "I guess I don't really need an answer to that, do I? I see the way you two look at each other. It's a lot like how you used to look at me, really."

Louis frowns, and meets Eleanor's eyes. "I'm sorry," he repeats. "Far more sorry than you will ever know El, I promise. I never meant to hurt you, you have to know that."

"Do I though? Because it feels an awful lot like this entire thing could have been avoided. I mean- you didn't exactly need to date me Louis. It wasn't me who did all the chasing, in case you forgot," her tone is harsh and Louis wants to argue, wants to protest, because how on earth was he meant to see this coming, but-

"I know," he replies softly. "And that's why I'm sorry. Because I didn't have to hurt you, and now I've done it anyway, and I feel so unbearably guilty Eleanor, I promise you that. I wish I could fix this somehow, but- you deserve the chance to meet someone who will love you the way you deserve."

Eleanor's crying openly now, no longer trying to hide it. "I thought you did," she sobs. "You told me you'd love me forever and  _goddammit Louis_ , I thought you  _meant_ it," she snaps, anger flashing in her eyes.

"I know, I know, I'm so sorry El, so sorry," he repeats, eyes widening in shock. "Look- I'll do whatever it takes to make this any better for you- anything I can do, I'll do it."

Eleanor takes a deep breath, and braces herself against the door frame, like she's afraid she's going to fall. "Don't- I mean- please don't be with him straight away," she whispers. "I couldn't bear to see you with him, not so soon after this. It's a terrible thing for me to ask, but- please."

Louis nods slowly, thinking. "Okay. I can do that."

Eleanor sighs. "Can you though? You had a hard enough time keeping your hands off each other when I was around- I don't see what will stop you now."

"I'm not sure he even wants anything right now," Louis admits. "He- there's a guy, a friend of Nick Grimshaw, and- he's trying to get over him, apparently. I don't know if I even stand a chance, to be honest."

Eleanor scoffs. "You're an idiot Louis," she says. "There's no way there's another guy, or- I highly doubt there's _ever_ been anyone else, for Harry. You're all he cares about."

Louis shakes his head. "It doesn't matter," he says. "I promise you wont have to see or hear anything about us, if anything ever happens. I don't want to hurt you further."

Eleanor nods. "Thank you," she says, wiping her tears. "I- I'll pack up all your stuff then, shall I? And if you wouldn't mind, maybe Danielle could just get mine from your flat sometime. I don't think I'll particularly want to see you in the near future, probably."

Louis cringes, but nods anyway. "Of course, whatever you want, only- I have to get back to Lily now, is all. I have dinner reservations at a restaurant in London with her and Ha- I mean, it's a bit of a drive, is all. So if maybe you could pass my things along to Dani as well? Or I could send someone over to collect them- I mean, I don't think I have anything I desperately need here anyway, so like- feel free to burn things, if you think it'll help, maybe."

Eleanor giggles slightly, even through her tears, and leans over to kiss Louis on the cheek. "If it doesn't work, with Harry," she begins, frowning. "I'm always here Lou. I really do love you, you know."

Louis nods his head. "I know," he says gently, before smiling gently at her and turning, walking away.

*

Harry's there when he gets back to their apartment, sitting on the couch with a cup of tea in his hand, and another one on the table.

"One sugar, no milk," Harry says quietly. Louis starts, realising he must have been staring at it for ages now, as Lily's now sitting next to Harry as well.

"Oh," he says stupidly. "That's how I like my tea."

Harry and Lily roll their eyes simultaneously. "No, really? I've only been living with you for almost three years," Harry drawls. "You think I would have picked up on that by now." Lily giggles, and Louis is finally lifted from the fog he's been in since he left Eleanor's.

"I broke up with Eleanor," he tells them, and Harry almost drops his tea. Lily's smile is so big, and beautiful, and Louis finds himself staring at Harry, waiting to see that smile on his face as well.

Harry blinks. "Oh," he says. "Why?"

"I- I don't love her, anymore. Maybe I never did," Louis replies, shrugging. "I haven't quite worked it out for myself yet, just so we're clear."

Harry blinks again, and Louis sighs, sitting down on the couch opposite him and Lily. "I didn't know you were going to end it," Harry eventually says. 

Louis shrugs. "I said I would, didn't I?"

Harry nods slowly, and tilts his head to stare at Louis. "You did, I suppose. I just- you said you loved her, just the other month. I'm wondering what's changed, is all."

Louis rolls his eyes, smiling at his friend. "Lily," he says, giving the simple answer, and Harry's face almost drops.

"Oh, of course. Because she's not Eleanor's daughter, is she? So- yeah, fair enough, really," Harry stutters, and Louis sighs, switching his stare to Lily, who frowns. 

"Did I ever tell you that there's a boy at my school, who has two mums?" Lily blurts out, wincing the second she's finished. Harry and Louis both stare at her, confused looks on their faces.

"That's lovely Lil," Harry answers. "Um-"

"I only mention this," Lily interrupts. "Because they're both actually his mum, is all. Science has come along way, since- well, since now, I suppose."

Harry turns to look at Louis, who's trying not to smile. "Um- Lily," he begins. "I don't quite understand," he admits, before glancing at Louis again. "Though it seems Lou does. What am I missing?"

"This boy, Jake, is half of one mum, and half the other. They didn't need sperm, or anything else. They actually converted one of the mother's eggs into sperm, I guess," Lily explains, blushing while Louis grins at her and Harry looks on, still horribly confused. "I just thought it was interesting," she murmurs, sinking further into the couch.

"Very interesting Lil," Louis agrees. "Wouldn't you say Harry?"

Harry nods slowly. "People of the same sex can have children together?" he asks, and Lily nods her confirmation. "That's-"

"Proper amazing," Louis finishes. "So amazing in fact, that we should head out to dinner, to celebrate."

Lily rolls her eyes. "It doesn't happen for almost fifteen years," she tells him.

Harry grins, finally. "Bit premature mate," he agrees. "But- dinner would be good, anyway."

Louis blushes. "I may have already taken care of that, before I went to see Eleanor. There's this place that Liam told me about- only about a ten minute drive away, if that's okay?"

Harry's smile grows almost impossibly larger. "More than okay, Lou," he says, turning to Lily. "Do you want to get changed love, or are you happy to wear this?" Lily shrugs.

"I'm happy with this. Just need to get a jumper and shoes," she says, before running off to do that. Harry stands up as well.

"I've gotta do that too, I reckon," Harry says. "But first- are you alright Lou? I mean- you've been with Eleanor for ages and all, and this seems sudden, I guess. I mean- of course I understand that there's no future there, as Lily is living proof of that, but well- you loved her, I guess." Louis sighs, and stands up so he's facing Harry. Gripping Harry's hand, he responds.

"I didn't love her, not really," he begins. "I mean- listen, I thought I loved her, but I was wrong. Because- I know what love is. I see it with Danielle and Liam, and Zayn and Perrie, and your mum and stepdad. I see it with _my_ mum and stepdad. And- I see it with how you are, with Lily, I think. And- I never had any of that with Eleanor. I never looked at her and thought about the future, and in hard times, she- I always looked to you, Haz. Not her," he admits, blushing slightly. Harry's eyes are wide, and his lips are parted slightly, obviously completely in shock.

"I- wow," he whispers. "Lou- why didn't you tell me you felt that way? I mean- god, you shouldn't have had to stay with someone who wasn't making you happy." Louis shrugs.

"It doesn't matter anymore, really. Eleanor and I- we're over. I've got my family, and the boys and Lily, for a little while. And-"

"And you have me, too," Harry reminds hip, squeezing his hand. "You've always had me Lou, always will."

Louis smiles. "Thank you," he says. "For everything- you've been a real wonder with Lil and stuff, and I really appreciate it." Harry fucking beams at him, and Louis feels like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time.

"No trouble," he says. "Lily's great, you know that. It's been wonderful having her." Louis smiles. "Yes, it has been, hasn't it? It'll be a real bummer when she leaves again." Harry shrugs. "I bet future Lou is probably missing her a lot though."

Louis snorts. "He's probably worried sick," he agrees, smiling gleefully. "Lily's going to be grounded for months when she gets back, most likely." Lily laughs loudly as she enters the room.

"More like a year, really. You two are going to kill me!" Louis laughs loudly as Harry sighs.

"I'm sure your mum will protect you, love," he says softly. "Or Liam, at least." Lily laughs as well, instantly attaching herself to Harry's free hand, in an attempt to make him feel more like a part of the family he actually was.

"It's true that Liam always has to try and stop me from getting hurt," she tells them. Louis rolls his eyes.

"Probably only because you've done something to make us want to hurt you," he says, and Lily blushes.

"It's not my fault I was born with the mischievous gene!" Lil protests. "Not to mention that Zayn babysat for me for ages. I was bound to turn out this way!" Harry laughs, and nods his head.

"She's got a point Lou, really. We couldn't have expected much more." Lily beams up at them, and Harry's heart aches for this little girl that isn't is. "I'll get my coat and wallet, shall I? And then we can head off." Louis nods, and Harry let's go of both their hands, before heading to his bedroom.

"I wish we could tell him," Louis sighs. Lily frowns.

"We can, actually. I mean- I only didn't tell him because you needed time to accept everything without attacking Harry, which according to Niall, you're very prone to do. But- now you've dumped Eleanor, so- we probably could tell him, if you'd like." Louis blinks, processing this.

"I'm not quite sure. Maybe we should see if he actually even wants to date me, after this. He's apparently got a thing for one of Nicks mates, so I should probably wait until he moves past that." Lily sighs.

"This is a lot more work than I ever expected," she huffs, before Harry walks back in the room.

"Ready to go?" He asks, smiling at them both. Lily grabs his hand again, joining them all as a family.

"Ready," she and Louis dutifully chorus.

*

Harry drives them- with Louis' directions- to a nice little place just near their apartment building, and they spend a lovely two hours eating without anyone recognising them.

"This is nice," Lily remarks over dessert. "Back in my time- it's a lot like this. We can go out more without getting harassed. It's a bit full on here, isn't it?" Harry smiles at her.

"I'll be very happy the day it dies down a bit, I think. I love this life, but."

"Having our lives belong to us, and us only will be wonderful again," Louis jumps in, mouth full of ice cream.

"Ew," Harry and Lily simultaneously exclaim. "You're disgusting Daddy," Lily trills and Harry laughs, instantly opening his mouth of sticky date pudding and shoving his tongue out, much to Lily's annoyance. "It's good to know nothings really changed with you, between now and my time," she laughs.

"Good," Louis says, after swallowing his mouthful. "I don't ever want to grow up." Harry rolls his eyes.

"You aren't Peter Pan, Lou, honestly," he teases. "And you have a kid in the future, so you grow up at least a little bit." Louis sighs.

"Guess I'll have to be young and immature for a little while longer then. Such a shame, seeing as how much fun it is to be old and boring," Louis declares dramatically. Lily giggles.

"I don't think you'll ever get boring Daddy," she tells him. "You're too fun to be boring!" Louis smiles at his daughter.

"Exactly the way it should be, love."

*

The next day, they begin recording  _They Don't Know About Us_ for the album. Zayn finishes his parts first and gets permission to leave early, as long as he comes back the next morning. He takes Lily to lunch with Perrie, as they had such a good time together the day before, so Harry and Louis don't have to worry over her while they're working for the rest of the day. "She'll do dinner at Niall's, as well," Zayn tells Louis quietly as they're leaving. "So you and Harry will be alone until at least nine or so. Make the best of it, please- though, do hold on with somethings, maybe. We don't need another kid just yet." Louis blushes.

"Don't think that's exactly possible for us right now anyway Malik," he reminds him. "But- thanks. I've decided I might tell Harry some stuff tonight- hey! Why are you making jokes about Harry and I having- about Harry and I?" he questions, and Zayn shrugs, a confused look on his face.

"I'm not _Liam_ ," he protests. "I do pay attention, and notice things."

Louis grins, always happy to be making fun of Liam. "Well, fair enough. How come everyone knows things before me?" he sighs, and Zayn shrugs again, grinning this time. "Anyway, so after I make him dinner-"

"You're making dinner?" Zayn asks, completely shocked. "Where is Louis Tomlinson and who the hell are you?"

Louis rolls his eyes. "I thought it'd be special, since it's always him who cooks and all. So- wish me luck and all." Zayn grins, and pats his back.

"About time mate, honestly. What are you going to cook?"

Louis sighs. "I was thinking just a roast chicken and veggies. Can't screw that up majorly, I hope. Which, actually- can you grab me a couple things from the shop before you go to lunch, and then put em in our flat?"

Zayn nods. "Text me a list, Lily and I can grab them before we meet Perrie, easy."

Louis smiles. "Thanks mate. I want everything to go perfect."

"Nothing ever goes perfect when you're confessing your love to your future husband and future father of your child," Zayn drawls, and Louis scoffs. "But that said- I'm sure it'll go great," Zayn reassures him.

"What'll go great?" Harry's voice interrupts, seemingly popping out of nowhere and instantly resting his head on Louis' shoulder.

"Your solos and such," Zayn lies effortlessly. "Well- Louis' maybe anyway. You on the other hand."

Harry reaches over to slap Zayn's arm. "How very dare you. Getting Lou's hopes up that he won't suck, that's just awful of you mate, truly."

This time it's Louis to slap Harry's arm. "Tossers, the both of you!" He exclaims. "Get out of my sight Malik."

Zayn laughs, and gestures over to Lily, who's speaking with Niall. "Come on Lil, time to leave," he calls out, and Lily kisses Niall on the cheek in goodbye before instantly rushing over to Zayn and her parents. 

"I'm going to Niall's for dinner," she informs them. "He said he'll bring me back at nine, exactly."

Louis and Harry nod, and Harry brushes her messy hair into a ponytail quickly. ""Make sure you call us if anything goes wrong, of you want to come home, or anything, okay?" Louis tells her, and Lily rolls her eyes. 

"I'm not a baby, Daddy. Everything will be fine. Just- enjoy your night off, okay?" She orders, pointedly looking at Harry, and Louis nods, leaning down to hug her.

"I'm working on things tonight," he whispers in her ear, and she hugs him almost impossibly tight. 

"About time," she replies, sounding oddly like Zayn. After Harry hugs her, she slips her hand in Zayn's and leaves with waves goodbye.

*

Louis can't believe that they almost didn't put this song on the album, because, _oh my god,_ it's an incredible one. Harry sounds so beautiful, and it's probably one of his best solos on the entire album, Louis thinks. 

"You smashed it mate," he tells Harry when he comes out of the sound booth an hour later. "Absolutely perfect."

Harry grins, wiping his forehead. "Ten pounds says you'll do even better," Harry jokes, sitting down on the couch next to him, and Louis shakes his head, laughing.

"No effing way H, you were great," he says, before standing up after his name is called. He sings the backup vocals for chorus four times before he's told to move onto his solo. It takes him only two go's to get it perfect, which is a far lot less than it usually takes. 

"That was bloody brilliant," Harry says, when he's finished, only thirty minutes after he began.

Louis hides a blush by wiping his face with his shirt, and then rolls his eyes. "Okay, Ron Weasley," he teases, and Harry laughs.

"No seriously Lou, that was amazing. I didn't realise how good you had gotten," Harry praises, and Louis blushes even deeper.

"I guess I really just- connect with this song," he shrugs. "My solo especially."

Harry blinks. "Your solo- Lou, it's about being in love, basically. I thought you were done with Eleanor?"

Louis shrugs again. "I am done with her. But- doesn't mean that I can't connect with this song, right?" he asks, and Harry shakes his head in response. "Anyway- since we finished early, I was thinking we could go home together. I- Lily and Zayn should have finished the grocery shopping I asked them to do earlier, when they left, and I thought that well, I could make us dinner, maybe. Since you always do the cooking, and stuff, maybe you wanted a break?"

Harry beams at him. "I love cooking for you Lou, but- that would be lovely actually." Louis lets out a sigh of relief. 

"Okay, well. Let's go home then, so I can get started maybe? We could pop on a movie to watch while we're eating as well, if you'd like."

"I'd like that a lot," Harry agrees, smiling almost shyly at him. Louis drives them home, and Harry grins the entire ride home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/slytherinlarry_) and [tumblr](http://slytherin-larrie.tumblr.com).


	13. Chapter 13

It's approximately 6:09PM when Louis realises that his life is an absolute disaster. 

"The chicken is burnt, and the veggies aren't cooking properly- they're still  _hard_ , Niall, and the gravy keeps fucking up and going all watery, and- Jesus Christ, why did I ever think this would be a good idea?" Louis whimpers into his phone, glaring when he hears Niall laugh. "This isn't fucking  _funny_ Horan!" Louis snaps.

"Look- Lou, it's  _fine_ ," Niall reassures. "Harry doesn't eat chicken skin anyway, the veggies will cook eventually, just take the chicken out and then turn the oven up a little bit, and- Lou, as for the gravy, that always takes even Harry more than one go to get it right, so  _don't worry_. Just hang up with me, and go and ask Harry for some help. He won't be mad if you do that-"

"I'm supposed to be cooking  _him_ dinner," Louis snaps. "Not the other way around! I don't want him to know that I fucked everything up because I'm so bloody _hopeless_!"

"You're not hopeless," Harry's voice says, and Louis whirls around, dropping his phone on the floor. He can still hear Niall laughing as Harry steps forward and picks up the phone, hanging up on him. "Lou- what's wrong?"

Louis sighs loudly. "I wanted to cook you a good dinner because we need to talk, and I thought this would be nice, for you, right, and I fucked everything up completely, and now dinner is  _ruined_ , and I'm so bloody  _shit_ , because all I wanted was to tell you that I broke up with Eleanor because I realised that I didn't want her, because I fucking want  _you_ , and now I've ruined everything," he rambles, completely oblivious to the shock on Harry's face. "And I've burnt the chicken, and under-cooked the vegetables, and the gravy is essentially just brown water, probably, and we've run out of pepper, and I know you like that on your potatoes, so-"

"We can fix this," Harry finally interrupts. "Just- go wash your face, alright? You're very flushed, and being around a hot oven isn't helping," Harry says, pushing him gently in the direction of the bathroom, before quickly kissing his cheek. "Stop stressing Lou, this is all fixable, I promise."

Louis takes his time in the bathroom, washing his face and fixing his hair and just generally trying to get his breathing under control. After about ten minutes, he heads back to the kitchen to find that Harry was right, apparently.

He's just pouring gravy onto two plates full of chicken that looks- well, burnt, still, but not as bad as before- and vegetables, and the gravy isn't just dripping down like it's water, it actually- 

"How on earth did you  _do_ that?" Louis questions, absolutely stunned. "I- three hours, I've been working on this- screwing everything up-, and within ten minutes, you manage to fix it all?"

Harry grins, and carries the two plates on the dining room table. "I've been cooking a lot longer than you have, Lou. And- I'm a lot less stressed out, then you are right now, which makes it easier to cook, y'know."

Louis sighs, and sits down. "It's a bit hard not to stress out, when you think about what I've just told you, is all," he admits, staring Harry right in the eyes.

Harry smiles. "Cooking calms me down," he says. "It's very relaxing to me, so- I mean, I'm freaking out a little bit, about what you said, but-"

"Only a little bit?" Louis interrupts. "Because god- when Lily told me, I freaked out for- well, I haven't really stopped, if we're honest."

Harry pauses for a second, and takes a bit of potatoes and gravy. "Lily?" he asks a moment later. "What's she got to do with your- feelings, for me?" And he lights up saying that, so much, and Louis' heart aches for all the days they could have-  _should have_ \- spent together, and he vows to never spend another second not being with Harry, if he can help it. There's still this scared feeling in his lower stomach, scared of admitting that he likes boys, admitting that he likes  _Harry,_ but there's a warm feeling in his chest that is suddenly overwhelming, and makes Louis feel a lot better about this entire situation. 

"She was the one who pointed it out, I suppose," Louis shrugs. "Something about- the way we look at each other."

Harry blushes. "I thought you knew, really. Just- didn't feel the same," he mutters, eyes flashing with hurt, and Louis wants to punch himself.

"I- I'm a bit of an idiot, Harry," he tells him. "You know that, surely," he adds, and Harry laughs.

"Only a little bit," he concedes, and suddenly his eyes widen and he frowns. "Wait, Lily," he utters, and Louis frowns in confusion.

"She's with Niall, remember? I'm sure she's fine," Louis says soothingly, and Harry shakes his head.

"No," he says. "Lily- God, Lou what is the point of us even bothering to have this discussion with Lily in the picture? I- I couldn't take her away from you, not just to be with me, or whatever it was that you were actually after."

Harry goes to stand up, and Louis reaches over to hold his hand. "Harry-  _shut up and sit down_ ," he commands, and Harry does exactly that. "Look- do you remember what Lily told us, before we went to dinner yesterday?"

Harry blinks, and Louis can see him trying to remember, and then- when he realises, his eyes shoot wide open and Louis can almost see his brain explode. "You- are you fucking kidding me?" Harry blurts out, eyes darting around like a crazed man.

"Not in the slightest," Louis confirms, and Harry sucks in a deep breath of air.

"Lily- she's- my daughter too?" Harry asks, hope lighting up his eyes.

"With her beautiful smile- how could she be anything but?" Louis returns, smiling at Harry, who fucking lights up like a Christmas tree at Louis' answer. 

"Lou- we- I- why didn't you  _tell me you little fucker_ ," Harry eventually says. "For ages now- all I've been thinking is 'goddamn, I guess Louis doesn't secretly love me, because he's got a fucking  _kid_ ,' and god- it's been bloody torture."

Louis frowns, having not expected this reaction. "Well, I wasn't allowed to, see. Lily wasn't even meant to tell me, honestly, but I saw her singing, and- she's so much like you Haz, it's ridiculous. We must be such wonderful parents in the future, because she's more amazing than you know," Louis gushes, and despite Harry's frown, Louis see's his eyes smiling.

"I thought she sang like me," is Harry's response. "I mean- like, her emotions, and stuff. Mannerisms, are very similar to mine, but- I guess I just thought it was because I was her uncle, or something. I never imagined I was her  _father_."

"She'll be home in an hour or so," Louis says. "She can confirm everything for you then, if you'd like."

Harry nods. "It's not that I don't believe it, but-  _holy shit_ , I don't  _believe_ it," he says, and Louis laughs. "Just- this means we're together, in the future then, right?" Harry questions, suddenly looking unsure.

"I- was there ever really any other option?" Louis asks in return, smiling. "It's  _us_ Harry, of course we'll end up together. I think we always knew that, really, we just needed a push is all. Or- well, I suppose I was the only one who needed the push, really," he blushes, and Harry laughs.

"It doesn't matter, really. You got there in the end, I suppose. Even if it did take a  _nine year old_ to point it out to you," he teases, and Louis is so fucking happy his heart is bursting. 

"I'm glad she did," he shrugs. "I- I may have freaked out a bit, at first. Honestly mate, you're taking this an awful lot better than I did when I first found out. I- well, I was very surprised, to say at the least."

Harry grins. "Lou- can I kiss you? Only- I've been waiting years now, and as you finally, like, return my feelings, now would be a good time is all?" Louis is too stunned to really do anything other than nod slowly, so Harry stands up and steps around the table, gently grabbing Louis' hands and pulling him up. "I quite like that you're shorter than me now," Harry tells him, almost conversationally, though Louis notices the slight hitch in his breathing. "It makes this a bit easier, on my part."

When their lips finally connect, Louis wants to punch himself a bit. Harry's lips are as soft as Louis thought, and he kisses the way he does almost everything- slowly, but surely. Harry's hands tangle in his hair, and Louis pulls him closer to him, looping his fingers in his belt buckles, and their chests touch, and- oh. No boobs. That's- odd, but as Harry's tongue licks over Louis' lower lip, he finds that he doesn't really mind at all. They finally pull apart after a couple of moments, both breathing heavily, and Harry's eyes are fucking  _shining_ , and his lips are red and puffy, and  _Louis did that to him_. _  
_

"Why," Harry begins. "Have we not been doing that for the last couple years?"

Louis grins, and blushes slightly. "Well, everyone keeps telling me it's cause I'm a bit of an idiot, really. So."

Harry smiles at him, and kisses him softly, just the once. "You're my idiot though, so I guess it's okay. Only please don't make me wait another two and a half years for another kiss, because I may wither away and die if that happens."

Louis laughs, and Harry sits back down, pulling Louis onto his lap. "Promise I wont," he says, kissing Harry softly again.

*

They spend the next two hours kissing and talking and kissing and eating- though all their food had gone cold by the time they remembered it was there. Harry eats every last crumb and happily announces that it was the best meal he's ever had in his whole life, which just makes Louis kiss him again. When Lily finally comes home, it's to Harry and Louis curled up on the couch watching  _Grease_ , hands intertwined. Both their lips are red and puffy and Louis knows there's a small hickey on Harry's neck- he knows, because Harry had moaned when he started kissing his neck, and Louis couldn't help himself, really- and they both blush a bright red as she surveys them.

"Finally!" she hollers, jumping up and down on the spot. "It took you two long enough, honestly."

Harry rolls his eyes, and Lily nestles herself in between them on the couch. "You mean it took  _Lou_ long enough," he corrects, and Lily sighs in agreement and pokes Louis in the stomach. Harry beams at his family, and wraps his arm around Lily. "Do you- I mean- instead of Harry, is there another name you'd maybe want to call me?" he asks, and Lily sighs almost in relief.

"Hi Daddy," she trills, and Harry's eyes absolutely do  _not_ tear up at the name. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you straight away, but everyone back home told me that you and Daddy almost didn't get together, on account of he's the most stubborn person alive, apparently. So I-  _we_ ," she amends, smiling up at Louis. "Had to make sure everything was okay with him first, before we told you."

Harry considers this. "I suppose that's fair enough. Only- you will be grounded for a hundred years when you get home, probably. On account of how crap- sorry, bad I've felt the last two weeks thinking Louis had had a kid with some  _girl_."

Lily sighs. "I suppose that's fair," she agrees, and Louis and Harry share a grin over the top of her head. Lily groans, finally having taken notice of the television. "Not _Grease_ again!" she protests. 

Louis' mouth drops open in mock horror. "You don't like  _Grease_?" he questions, looking absolutely scandalised. "Are you positive you're my daughter?" Lily rolls her eyes, but nods all the same. "Well," Louis huffs. "I'll just have to disown you then. She's all yours now, Hazhead."

Harry smiles softly down at Lily, who has an annoyed look on her face as she switches glares between the television and her father. "I don't have a problem with that at all," he says gently, and Lily lights up like the sun.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/slytherinlarry_) and [tumblr](http://slytherin-larrie.tumblr.com).


	14. Chapter 14

They're watching television on a Thursday night when Lily disappears right in front of their eyes. It happens quickly; one moment, she's there, and the next, she's gone. Harry is inconsolable for awhile, and Louis invites the boys around to try and cheer them up.

"Future Louis and Harry are probably very happy to have her back," Louis tells Harry, at one point. "And really, her job here was done."

Harry's eyes shine with tears. "She was our daughter," he says, and Louis shakes his head. 

"She's _their_ daughter Haz, she wont be ours for years. We'll see her again though, that's how this works, remember? And it'll be a lot better, because this time, we'll have all the time in the world to spend with her," Louis comforts, and Harry smiles softly, kissing Louis's cheek gently.

"Except for the two months when she has to come back here, and kick your butt into action," he teases, and Niall's loud laughter rings from the kitchen. 

"I'm honestly surprised it _only_ took two months," Zayn says, resting his head on Liam's shoulder. Liam's still frowning, annoyed he was the last one who figured out that Lily was Harry's daughter as well as Louis'. 

"Really," Harry begins, sharing a fond smile with Louis. "This has been in the works for years."

*

They tell their families a week later, when they finally emerge from Harry's bedroom. Liam laughs for about twenty minutes at Louis' persistent bed-hair, and Niall takes great pleasure in poking all of Harry's hickeys and bruises. Zayn sighs, and rings Perrie.

"Guess I owe you that 40 quid," he says, and Louis laughs when he hears Perrie gloating loudly. 

"Congratulations love," she says, when Zayn passes on the phone. "And thank you for sorting this out now; if you'd waited any longer, I would have lost," Louis laughs again, and Perrie promises to come visit as soon as she can. "I can't wait to see Lily again," she says, and Louis sighs.

"She's gone back with her mum, actually," he lies, and Perrie makes a small hurt sound. 

"Oh, that's awful. Surely you'll still see her though?" she asks, and Louis bites his lip.

"They've moved to Australia, actually. When we can find the time we'll meet up, of course, but she needs to be with her family right now," he explains, and Perrie hums.

"At least you've got the rest of your family around," she says, soothingly. Louis agrees, and then Perrie sighs. "Jesy's calling me babe, I've got to go. We'll catch up when I'm back in the UK, yeah?"

Louis agrees, and then gives a disgruntled Zayn his phone back. "So that's the story we're going with then?" Harry asks, and Louis shrugs.

"We only have to keep it up for a few years, I figure. Then everyone else will find out about the time-portal things, and we'll have Lily, and they'll figure it out, I guess," Louis answers, and Harry nods. "How'd Gems and your mum take it?" he asks, and Harry's face lights up.

"Mum's already planning a wedding," he laughs, and Louis grins. "And Gem said to remind you of her last words to you?" he says, eyebrows furrowing in confusion, and Louis gulps.

"She may have threatened my life if I hurt you," he tells Harry, who laughs.

"She's right scary," he says, and Louis nods in agreement. "Speaking of scary sisters, how did yours take it?"

Louis rolls his eyes. "Lottie said she was happy, but she's mourning her crush on you I think," he says, and Harry blushes. "Daze and Pheebs only concern was about Christmas presents, and would they still be getting one each from us, or will we double up," Louis says, and Harry snorts out _typical_. "Fizzy was ecstatic, actually. I told all the girls on speakerphone and her response was 'oh good, because I have a girlfriend and I've been wondering how to tell you lot for awhile now.'"

Harry's mouth falls open in shock, and Louis laughs. "Well, I didn't expect that," he says, and Louis laughs again.

"Nobody did, apart from the twins, apparently."

"How'd your mum take it?" Harry asks.

"She was furious," Louis says, gleefully. "Fiz has had this girl sleepover heaps of times, and mum was so angry that she was ' _doing god knows what under my roof Felicite Tomlinson_ ,' that all she told me was congratulations, and to tell you hello."

Harry smiles. "Well," he says, kissing Louis gently. "Now we just have to tell the world."

Louis makes a face. "I quite like keeping it quiet, for now," he says, smirking. "I think Fiz had the right idea, about being able to hide the obvious right in your bedroom."

Liam groans. "Keep that to yourself, please."

Harry winks at Louis. "I plan to," he says, dragging Louis towards their bedroom.

*

**LARRY STYLINSON WEDDING OR CELEBRITY AWARD SHOW?**

14th May 2016  
By: Jessica Bolton   
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Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles  _officially_ tied the knot this past weekend. They originally wed in secret in Vegas in 2014 with only their bandmates and an Elvis impersonater in attendance, but decided to have a proper wedding this past Sunday, after the news of England finally legalising same sex marriage. In attendance were the million and one sisters Louis has, the rest of  _One Direction,_ and countless other celebs. The wedding was kept extremely private- which we understand, if we were dating Harry Styles, we'd want to keep him locked up behind closed doors as much as possible too- but we at _Sugarscape_ can exclusively reveal that  Ed Sheeran sang the first song the newly married couple danced to.

"Yeah, the boys asked me a few weeks ago if I wouldn't mind, and since it's already a forgone conclusion that  _Kiss Me_ was written about them, I figured why not?" Sheeran says. "Plus, I got free booze, so it was a win-win situation."

Also in attendance at the _Wedding of the Century_ , as we've now dubbed it, were Taylor Swift, Kendall Jenner, and Eleanor Calder, all past flames of the couple. Taylor Swift recently released a new song after the announcement of Harry and Louis' relationship, and her consequent 'bearding' and wished the couple all the best.

"They're definitely one of my inspirations," she revealed. "Not only for my latest single, but for love in general. I'd almost given up hope on finding true love until I saw them together- they're truly soulmates. I've got to believe that there's someone out there that will love me as much as Louis loves Harry."

Eleanor Calder and Kendall Jenner were unavailable for comment, though Kendall posted an artsy snap on her Instagram of the wedding cake with miniature Harry and Louis' statues on top. Eleanor recently announced in an interview that she was dating a photography student she met at one of her modeling shoots, and in a few of the photos from the wedding reception, her and Sophia look awfully sweet. It's rumoured that Harry and Louis recently went on a double-date with the stylish couple, and that Louis in particular keeps in contact with his ex-girlfriend.

Harry and Louis are currently on a worldwide trip to celebrate their wedding. "Our whole relationship has essentially been a honeymoon," Harry says, in true charmer-fashion. "But I figured that Louis deserves a proper one anyway, so we're going travelling to see all the places we've missed when on tour."

When asked about starting a family, the smile on Louis' face grows. "We can't wait to have children," he reveals, holding Harry's hand. "We've been looking into surrogacy, and we think we've found a lovely woman to help us out. We definitely want a huge family; we're financially stable, obviously, and we're on a break with the band, so we might as well get started as soon as possible."

Harry wore a blue patterned suit for the wedding, while Louis opted to go for the more traditional black and white. Zayn Malik stood for Louis, as well as his childhood friend Stan Lucas, while Harry had both Niall Horan and Liam Payne on his side.  

Click NEXT for the photos and videos.

*

They go to see Hayley while the nurses are looking after the baby; it’s only fair, after all, to thank the woman who carried their child for nine months. Her door is open, and she’s lying on her hospital bed, looking absolutely wrecked, but somehow she’s still smiling, and still has a glow about her, and Louis is strongly reminded of the reason they chose her to carry their child.

“Thank you so much,” he tells her when they’re close. She smiles up at him, brown eyes shining.

“Your baby girl was beautiful,” she responds, and Harry’s throat makes a choking sound.

“I- Louis I’ve got to-”

“See her, I know,” Louis completes. Harry nods, and Hayley pats his hand.

“Go,” she tells them. “Your daughter needs you.” Harry beams, and leans down to kiss her on the cheek.

“You did a wonderful job,” he says, and she smiles.

“I know. Now, seriously, go!” she laughs, and the boys nod, before hugging her and leaving the room quickly. They make their way to the nursery, and Harry grips Louis’ hand tightly before they go inside.

“Which one is she?” Louis murmurs, and the nurse on duty points to a baby not far from them, a happy smile on her face.

“You can pick her up, but be careful, obviously,” she tells them, before checking on another child, giving them at least an allusion of privacy.

When they reach the baby- _their_ baby, and Louis can’t believe he even gets to say those words- tears start welling up in his eyes. “She’s beautiful,” he chokes out, and Harry smiles at him, eyes shining with matching tears, before leaning down and picking her up.

“Of course she is,” he responds. “She’s your daughter Lou.”

(Louis won’t admit it in front of the other boys, but that’s the moment he starts bawling like a- well, he’d say like a _baby_ , but theirs is actually reasonably quiet, so.)

Their daughter is beautiful, is the thing. Louis knew that, obviously, because he _did_ spend two months with Lily before she was technically even born, but- she’s beautiful, even as a _very_ newborn baby. Her eyes are blue, and ten times more striking than his ever were as a baby. Her hair is a light brown, and though it’s short, and still in little tuffs, Louis knows she’s gonna get Harry’s curls, and he knows they’ll be beautiful. She’s tiny, and she has ten toes and ten fingers and she’s perfect, basically.

“Do you have any ideas for a name yet?” Anne asks them later, when they’re all in a hospital room with their baby. Harry looks up from Lily, to Louis, and nods, _go ahead_.

“Lily Anne Styles-Tomlinson,” he replies, and Anne’s eyes fill with tears.

“That’s beautiful,” she whispers, grasping Louis’ hand, and squeezing tight. “Thank you.”

“Is ‘Lily’ after your other sister?” Stan questions, having just arrived down from Doncastor, and Harry and Louis smile.

“Yeah, basically,” Harry replies. “She was the one who got us together, in the end, so- it’s only fair, we think.” Harry shrugs, softly, as not to jostle the sleeping baby in his arms.

“She does look a lot like Lily did. Same eyes and all,” Stan comments, and Louis nods while ignoring his bandmates’ quiet laughter.

“She does, doesn’t she?” he smiles.

“She’s perfect,” Jay whispers, beaming at Louis. “I can’t believe that our babies have one of their own!” she wails to Anne, and Louis and Harry both roll their eyes.

“Mum, stop it,” Louis whines. "We're grown men, we're not babies."

Anne rolls her eyes, looking exactly like her son. "You cried for an hour last week when we watched E.T.," she reminds Louis, who scowls. 

"You're awful," he tells her. "Absolutely terrible, and we don't want you anywhere near our child, lest you corrupt her."

"Oh hush," Jay scolds him, a wicked grin growing on her face. "She's already corrupted, just by sharing your DNA."

Harry lets out a loud laugh, and Lily stirs in his arms, her little hands flailing around. "Oh, she's awake," Harry says, as Louis kisses her gently on the forehead.

"Hi baby," he whispers, and Lily blows a bubble of spit in his face; Harry laughs so hard he almost drops her, and then passes her over to Louis while he composes himself. Looking at Louis holding their child, it's hard to remember there was a time when they weren't in love, when they weren't together. Harry barely remembers the days before Louis, or the days after, where Louis wasn't entirely his.  _I've been yours since the day we met,_ Louis argues, most times. Harry's inclined to agree, if only because it makes their story that much more romantic.

*

Later, when they're at home with baby Lily snoozing in her crib next to their bed, Harry kisses Louis softly.

"I love you," he tells him, and Louis' eyes crinkle. "Thank you for our beautiful daughter."

Louis tangles his fingers with Harry's. "I didn't really do that much," he jokes, and Harry rolls his eyes.

"You let me love you," he says, and Louis smiles. "And you gave up a lot, to be with me. I know how terrified you were back then."

Louis bites his lip. "Once I admitted that we had a future, it wasn't so scary," he says, softly. "Once I knew that we were going to end up together, and you weren't going to hurt me, it was a lot easier to admit it to myself, and to you."

Lily lets out a small yell from her crib, and Louis jumps up instantly, scooping her out and rocking her gently. "Once I knew that we'd end up with a little baby as perfect as this, I didn't really have a choice, did I?" he says, slipping back into bed.

Harry looks at his husband, and his daughter, and his heart could just about burst with love.

*

"Daddy, where's Lily?" Melissa asks, tugging on Harry's pants to get his attention.  
  
Harry puts his tea down and swings Melissa up into his lap. "I don't know sweetie, I thought you and Mason were playing outside with her?"  
  
Melissa shakes her head, her dark brown curls bouncing. "Mason pulled her hair so she said she was going to ring Tyler, to- plot revenge." Melissa looks confused for a moment. "Is revenge like lasagna Daddy? Is Lily and Tyler making a dinner for us? Also Tyler and Lily is allowed call phones, but me and Mason are not and that is not fair Daddy because we is all brothers and sisters and cousins so me and Mason should get a call phone too Daddy and we can even share it because we are not mean like Tyler and Lily is."  
  
Harry pauses for a moment, staring at his youngest daughter. "I'm not even sure where to begin with that," he tells her, and Melissa frowns at him. "First of all, why did Mason pull your sisters hair? He knows that he's not allowed to do that."  
  
Melissa reddens. "It's mine and Mason's birthday month, and Lily was being mean!" she complains, and Harry laughs.  
  
"Sweetie, your birthday isn't for another three weeks, you don't get to have everything for the whole month," he tells her, and Melissa pouts. "How did Lily be mean to you?"  
  
Melissa frowns. "She scored a goal in the football game and told us that we lost," she accuses, and Harry hides a grin.  
  
"Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry, that must have been upsetting," Harry says, kissing her cheek. Melissa nods her head in agreement.  
  
"Mason was very angry," she admits, quietly. "He kicked the ground hard and grass got ripped out, like when Dad does it."  
  
Harry sighs, and makes a mental note to tell Louis off for that later. "And then he pulled Lily's hair?" he asks, and Melissa bites her lip, but nods anyway.  
  
"Only a little bit came out," she say, quietly. "But Lily yelled at him anyway."  
  
"She shouldn't have yelled," Harry agrees. "But Mason shouldn't have hurt her. She's your older sister, Mel."  
  
Melissa sighs. "He's very sorry," she says, looking earnestly up at Harry. "He tried to tell her but she's got mad cause he said it in twin talk."  
  
Harry stifles a laugh. "I thought your Dad and I told you; no twin talk around other people, it's rude."  
  
Melissa looks very put out. "But Auntie Phoebe and Daisy taught it to us! And they're adults, so it must be allowed."  
  
"Adults are allowed to do things that kids can't sweetie. I know it's unfair, but it's the way it is," Harry explains. Melissa ponders this for a moment.  
  
"Is that like how we have to go to bed before Lily because she's older, but Kaleb has to go to bed before me and Mason because he's littler and you and Dad go to bed later than everyone because you are old?" Melissa asks, and Harry nods, even though he's offended at being labelled _old_.  
  
"Exactly like that," he agrees. "And like how Lily is allowed a cell phone and you two aren't yet," he adds, and Melissa frowns.  
  
"Is Tyler also allowed because he's older than us?" she asks, and Harry nods.  
  
"Also, because he has different parents," Harry explains. "Uncle Zayn and Aunt Perrie can do things differently to Dad and I if they want."  
  
Melissa thinks this over for a moment, and then apparently decides she'll allow this. "When will the revenge be ready? I'm hankering for a dinner," she responds, and Harry vows to destroy the ridiculous 'word of the day' calendar that Lily had received from Liam as a gift.  
  
"I can make lasagne for dinner, I think I've got some in the freezer I can heat up for you and Mase," Harry tells her, and Melissa beams at him. "How about you go and make sure your brother isn't angry still, and put the football things away? I'll go see if Lily's with Dad and Kaleb," Harry suggests, and after kissing him on the cheek, Melissa scrambles down off his lap, heading towards their backyard. Harry heads up stairs, and finds Louis is Kaleb's room, rocking to him and singing softly.  
  
"When he's a bit older, I think I'd like another one," Louis says, when he notices Harry.  
  
"We've already got four," Harry replies, snuggling up to Louis on the small couch. "We've only had Kaleb for a year now, you might feel differently in a while."  
  
Louis pouts. "I feel bad, that he's the only adopted one. And we've got so much to offer, I thought we could help out another child."

Harry ponders this. Staring at little Kaleb's face, it's hard to think that he might be their last child. "I finally hired a nanny, of sorts," Harry says, a few moments later. "She's from the same little village in Uganda; she's going to teach me how to cook some traditional meals for him, for when he's a bit older. She'll also link him up with other people from the same country, so he doesn't lose all his culture or anything. 

Louis smiles. "He's only thirteen months old Haz, he doesn't really have a whole lot of culture."

Harry rolls his eyes. "You know what I mean, Lou. It's important for an adopted child to still have a connection with their roots."

"I know, I know," Louis mumbles. "When he's old enough, we'll take the whole family back to Africa. I think the twins especially would love it."

Harry grins. "Lily would hate it; food that  _isn't_ plain? She'll starve." Louis lets out a loud laugh, causing Kaleb to stir slightly in his arms. "Speaking of Lily," Harry says, as Louis hums softly to Kaleb. "Have you seen her? The twins were antagonising her, so she apparently is enlisting Tyler for a revenge plot."

"I heard her stomp up to the attic about an hour ago," Louis says, grinning. "Muttering under her breath about twin talk, which I understand, having had two sets of twins in my family before we were blessed with Mason and Melissa."

Harry laughs quietly. "Speaking of Melissa, she's hankering for a revenge for dinner," he says, causing Louis' eyebrows to furrow in confusion as he rocks Kaleb. "After Lily announced her plot for revenge, Melissa apparently decided that revenge was like lasagna, so I'm heating up some for dinner," Harry explains. "Are you alright with that, or did you want me to make you something else?"

Louis shrugs. "I'm good with whatever everyone else is having," he says, before his arms still. "Wait- a  _hankering_?"

Harry rolls his eyes. "That stupid word of the day calendar that Liam gave Lily for Christmas. I'm considering burning it, to be honest."

Louis is silent for a moment, staring at Harry with wide eyes. "Haz," he says, softly. "Remember when Lily came to us, in the past? She had a hankering for pizza with pineapple, back then."

Harry nods slowly. "Our kids like weird foods and weird words," he says, before his mouth falls open in shock. "No, you don't mean-"

"Go check the attic," Louis instructs, and Harry jumps up. "I'll ring Liam, and find out if she's already gone, or if we can stop her."

Harry stops, hand on the door handle. "Wait," he says, frowning. "Louis- we can't stop her."

"Oh yes we bloody well can," Louis argues, placing a sleeping Kaleb in his crib. "She's our daughter, she's not about to go jumping back through time by herself."

"No, Louis, if we stop her, we might as well be giving up all of  _this_ ," he says, hand gesturing around Kaleb's nursery. "She's the entire reason we got together, you know that."

Louis huffs. "I like to think I would have got there eventually without our daughters help," he says, and Harry rolls his eyes.

"Do you really want to test that theory?" he asks, and Louis sighs. "Look, we know that we took good care of her when we had her back then, and obviously we know that she comes back okay. We've really got no reason to stop her, and all the reasons to let her go."

Louis frowns. "I still don't like it. And I'm going to call Liam and yell at him for helping her."

"I wouldn't expect any less," Harry says, fondly. Louis looks gleeful for a second. "Oh no," Harry says, intimate with this particular gleeful smirk of Louis's.

" _You_ have to tell our mums where our daughter has gone," Louis says, and Harry groans.  

"You'll end up a widower," Harry promises, but Louis just grins. "I'm going to get started on dinner while you call Liam, I'll ring mum and Jay after."

"What if she's still in the attic? Shouldn't we at least go say goodbye?" Louis asks, and Harry frowns.

"She told us that she didn't get to say goodbye, remember? She leaves us a note, apparently. Check her room, while you ring Liam," Harry suggests, flicking Kaleb's baby monitor on as they leave the room, shutting the door behind them. Louis disappears upstairs to Lily's room, dialing Liam's number as he goes, and Harry heads downstairs to start heating up their dinner. He checks on Mason and Melissa before he turns the oven on, and finds them watching television happily. 

"Can we have some garlic bread with our revenge?" Mason asks, when he spots Harry. 

"We're having lasagna," Harry corrects, smiling. "And sure, I'll make some garlic bread too." Mason turns to Melissa and says something in their twin-talk, causing Melissa to roll her eyes. She looks extraordinarily like Louis, at that moment. 

"Daddy, it's called  _revenge_ ," she says, frowning. "You told me so before and now you're making me look wrong in front of Mase."

"Sorry Melly," Harry says, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek, his long curls tickling her face so she giggles. Mason demands kisses too, and it's ten minutes and a full on tickle war later that Harry gets around to starting dinner.

Louis stomps in the room as Harry's pulling the lasagna and garlic bread out of the oven, carrying baby Kaleb on his hip. "Liam's a dead man," he announces, and Mason cheers.

"She's gone then?" Harry asks, sadly. Louis nods, frowning, and Melissa takes notice.

"What's wrong?" she asks, as Harry plates up their food, and Louis straps Kaleb into his baby-chair.

"Where's Lily?" Mason asks, as Melissa wipes away his milk mustache. "Did she not come back from plotting with Tyler?"

Harry smiles softly at his and Louis' children as he sits down. "Well," he says, reaching over to hold Louis' hand. Kaleb's happily munching on his teething rings, and Melissa and Mason are eating as they stare up at their dad's with wide eyes. Harry already misses Lily with every bone in his body, but he's so proud of her that his heart could burst. "Have we ever told you the story of how Daddy and I fell in love?"

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story through the last four years. i'm truly a terrible updater and never again will i post a story before i've completed writing it, but please know that this would have been abandoned a long time ago if it wasn't for everyone's kind comments. i truly appreciate every single person who's read this story, and who has enjoyed it enough to leave a comment. you're all way more amazing than i deserve.
> 
> i would truly love it if any of you could spare the time to watch this [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEUumIaxM9M&app=desktop), and then consider sharing it or donating to [this cause](http://prf.donorpages.com/TeamEnzoFundraising/CatherinaLlontop/). a little boy that i know was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease called progeria. this disease causes him to age at rapid rates, and children who suffer from this have a life expectancy of only 15 years. enzo is currently the only child with this disease in the entirety of australia, and he and his family would appreciate any awareness you could raise or any funds you can spare. if you're unable to financially help, please consider even sharing the video so maybe it will reach someone who is able to. again, thank you for reading.
> 
> as usual, find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/slytherinlarry_) and [tumblr](http://slytherin-larrie.tumblr.com).


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